GIFT  OF 
HORACE  W.  CARFENTIER 


C^ 


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RIGHT  REV.  BISHOP  M.  KHIRIMIAN. 
The  Armenian  Catholicos. 


RMENIA  AND 

HER  PEOPLE 


OR 


iSl\)t  Storn  of  Armenia 

BY  AN  ARMENIAN 


A  description  of  the  land  of  Armenia : 
its  ancient  and  modem  history;  its 
physical  features;  its  people,  their  re- 
ligious beliefs,  customs,  etc,,  from  the 
oldest  dates,  as  recorded  in  Armenian 
Histories  and  Church  Records.  A 
presentation  of  the  true  causes  of  the 
recent  atrocities  and  a  detailed  account 
of  the  massacres  ^  ^  ^  ji  ^  ^  ^ 


By 

Rcv^  George  H.  Filian 

A  native  pastor,  banished  by  the  Turkish  Government 
from  the  Gty  of  Marsovan,  Armenia 


jt^jt 


HARTFORD,  CONN. 

AMERICAN  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1896 


r)SI75 
F5 


CARPENTIER 


CoPTRieHT  1896 

By  American  Publishing  Company 

Hartford,  Conn. 

(AU  rights  reserved) 


BeMcatfott 

IN  REMEMBRANCE  OF  THE  MARTYRS  OF  ARMENIA  WHO 

SACRIFICED    THEIR     LIVES    FOR    CHRIST    THIS 

VOLUME  IS  AFFECTIONATELY  INSCRIBED 


(8^ 

839050 


CONTENTS. 


I-  PAGE. 

The  Land  op  Armenia, 21 

II. 
The  People  of  Armenia,         ....  .39 

III. 
The  Armenian  Dynasties, 45 

IV. 
Rulers  of  The  Ottoman  Empire, 132 

V. 
The  Great  Powers  and  The  Armenian  Question,     .      175 

VI. 
The  Causes  of  the  Atrocities 217 

VII. 
The  Turkish  Atrocities  in  Armenia,   ....      239 

VIII. 
The  Armenians  of  To-Day, 334 

IX. 

The  Future  of  Armenia  and  the  Battle  of  Arma- 
geddon,          850 


X. 


Poems  on  the  Armenian  Question, 

(V) 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PACE  PAGE 

Portrait  of  Armenian  Catholicos,       ....         1 

Portrait  of  Author,        .... 

12 

City  of  Antioch, 

17 

Map  of  Armenia, 

21 

Mount  Ararat, 

23 

Kurdish  Bandits, 

35 

Oriental  Threshing  Floor,    . 

35 

Armenian  Flags  — Coats  of  Arms, 

45 

Lake  and  City  of  Van,    .... 

40 

Oldest  Church  Edifice  in  the  World, 

101 

Portrait  of  Armenian  Patriarch, 

108 

Recent  Portrait  of  Sultan  of  Turkey, 

139 

Early  Portrait  of  Sultan  of  Turkey, 

143 

A  Bread  Seller, 

166 

A  Zeibeck, 

166 

A  SOFTA 

166 

Group  of  Circassians,      .... 

217 

Group  of  Georgians, 

217 

Kurdish  Home, 

239 

Kurd  Chiefs 

239 

Kurd  Woman, 

239 

Massacre  at  Sassoun, 

247 

(vii) 


viii  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FACE  PAGE 

Massacre  at  Erzeroum, 247 

]VL\ssACRE  AT  Stamboul, 257 

City  of  Harpoot, 264 

Armenian  Peasant  Girl, 272 

MousA  Beg,  Kurd  Chief 272 

Rev,  Prof.  Thourmain, 272 

City  of  Marsovan, 280 

A  Water  Peddler, .        .  280 

City  of  Trebizond, 300 

Group  of  Armenian  Children,       .....  319 

Group  of  Young  Armenian  Women,     ....  319 

Anatolia  College, 335 

Armenl\n  Family, 335 


PREFACE. 


The  problem  of  Armenia  and  the  Turkish  atrocities  there, 
is  in  the  very  forefront  of  the  world's  burning  questions  at 
the  present  time.  In  every  civilized  land  it  is  ranked  along- 
side their  own  pressing  local  issues;  everywhere  there  is 
not  only  sympathy  and  indignation,  but  a  feeling  of  real  re- 
sponsibility. We  are  a  group  of  Christian  nations,  and  the 
first  Christian  nation  is  being  exterminated.  Within  a  few 
months  the  unspeakable  Turks  and  barbarous  Kurds  de- 
stroyed more  than  a  thousand  villages  and  towns,  murdered 
a  hundred  thousand  Armenian  Christians,— men,  women,  and 
innocent  children,— and  left  500,000  others  without  homes, 
clothing,  or  food,  thousands  of  women  shamefully  defiled, 
and  thousands  of  men  put  to  horrible  tortures.  Dying  in 
the  streets,  in  the  fields,  on  the  mountains;  dying  of  hunger, 
of  cold,  of  storm,  and  of  diseases  bred  of  all  these;  dying  of 
broken  hearts  and  despair,  even  more,  of  shame  and  mental 
torture.  Yet  all  these  Armenians  who  thus  suffered  and 
were  driven  forth  to  starve  and  die  like  deserted  animals, 
were  absolutely  peaceable,—  indeed,  they  were  totally  un- 
armed and  could  not  have  been  otherwise  if  they  wished,— 
perfectly  respectable,  most  of  them  comfortably  off,  and 
some  of  them  rich.  One  who  was  last  week  a  banker  is  to- 
day a  beggar;  yesterday  a  merchant,  to-day  a  tramp.  Why  ? 
For  the  main  reason  that  he  is  a  Christian,  and  the  Sultan 
has  resolved  to  have  no  more  Christians  in  his  dominion;  tlie 
doom  of  Islamism  is  hanging  over  their  heads.  "  If  you 
accept  Islam,"  they  are  told,  "well  and  good;  if  you  do 

(ix) 


X  PREFACE. 

not,  you  shall  be  killed  —  or  worse  —  as  your  fellows  have 
been." 

These  are  all  facts,  proved  to  superfluity,  though  the  Sul- 
tan denies  them  and  instructs  his  ministers  everywhere  to 
deny  them.  How  often  has  tlie  Turkish  minister  in  Wash- 
ington, Mavroyeni  Beg,  oflicially  (?)  declared  the  Armenian 
atrocities  to  be  fiction,  giving  the  papers  lying  statements 
(which  come  from  the  Sublime  Porte),  and  asserted  that  the 
Armenians  were  the  aggressors  !  It  is  precisely  as  though 
one  should  account  for  a  devastated  sheepfold,  with  the 
wolves  raging  about  in  it,  by  alleging  that  the  lambs  had 
wantonly  assailed  and  slain  the  wolves  first.  Some  pre- 
tended to  believe  this  rubbish;  but  most  people,  to  their 
credit,  are  only  the  more  angered  and  disgusted  by  it.  The 
Turkish  proverbs,  occasionally  good,  are  generally  evil;— 
a  significant  index  to  the  race;  one  of  the  commonest  is  this: 
"  Yalan  yigitin  kullesi  dir "  (A  lie  is  the  fortress  of  the 
brave).  Kill,  plunder,  ravish,  and  then  deny  it;  not  sim- 
ply deny  it,  but  cliarge  those  very  things  to  your  enemy, 
and  make  them  an  excuse  for  all  you  do  to  him  or  his.  Such 
are  the  principles  of  the  Sultan,  the  false  successor  of  the 
false  prophet  of  Arabia.  At  the  very  time  when  noble 
American  and  European  Christians  are  sending  help  to  the 
survivors  of  his  massacres,  to  the  half-million  homeless, 
naked,  starving,  heart-broken  beggars  he  has  made  from 
prosperous  citizens,  he  coolly  denies  that  anything  has  hap- 
pened but  the  putting  down  of  a  few  local  riots.  He  writes 
to  Queen  Victoria  sympathizing  with  her  expressions  of 
humane  sentiment,  but  declaring  that  the  reports  wei-e  in- 
vented by  evil-disposed  persons;  that  on  the  exact  contrary, 
it  was  the  Turks  who  were  first  attacked  while  praying  in 
the  mosques.  He  assures  the  Queen  that  his  measures 
have  succeeded  in  restoring  order. 


PREFACE.  xi 

And  this  same  Sultan  a  few  months  ago,  before  the 
greatest  of  the  recent  massacres,  wrote  to  Lord  Salisbury 
as  follows:—  "Take  the  words  of  my  honor,  1  will  make 
reforms  in  Armenia.  I  will  keep  before  me  every  article  of 
the  desired  reforms,  and  will  order  the  governors  of  the 
provinces  to  carry  them  into  effect."  He  at  once  began  to 
put  this  pledge  of  his  "  honor  "  into  effect,  by  sending  orders 
from  Yildiz  Kiosk  to  the  provincial  governors  in  Armenia 
to  root  out  or  convert  the  accursed  infidels.  Since  that 
promise  of  his  "honor"  months  have  passed  away;  and 
during  the  time  at  least  eighty  thousand  more  Armenian 
Christians  have  been  killed,  and  even  death  has  been  the 
most  merciful  "  reform  "  he  has  bestowed  on  the  land.  The 
word  in  his  mouth  means  beggaring,  burning,  ravaging, 
violating,  mutilating,  torturing,  and  assassinating.  When 
all  the  leading  Armenians  are  slain  and  their  helpless  fami- 
lies forced  to  become  Mohammedans,  after  the  women  have 
been  dishonored,—  in  a  word,  when  all  the  Armenian  Chris- 
tians are  exterminated,  then  Armenia  will  have  been  re- 
formed. A  special  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  person  and 
doings  of  this  eminent  reformer. 


THE  AUTHOK. 

A  SKETCH  OF  HIS  LIFE  AND  BIRTHPLACE. 

I  was  born  January  20,  1853,  in  a  suburb  of  Antioch; 
twelfth  child  and  youngest  sou  of  a  family  of  nine  boys  and 
four  girls,  and  therefore  considered  the  Joseph  of  the  fam- 
ily, and  as  a  small  boy  went  to  a  missionary  school  with  my 
elder  brothers.  :My  father  was  a  banker  and  merchant. 
His  partner  in  the  former  business  was  Mr.  Edward  Barker, 
English  consul  at  Aleppo;  in  thfe  latter  a  Greek,  Jabra  An- 
taki,  their  traffic  being  in  raw  silk,  for  which  and  for  silk- 
worms Antioch  is  a  great  center.  Millions  of  dollars  passed 
through  his  hands,  and  he  was  considered  one  of  the  wealth- 
iest men  in  the  city.  A  common  saying  was,  "  If  you  can 
drain  the  Mediterranean  dry,  you  can  drain  Filian's  money 
dry."  This  saying  roused  the  cupidity  of  the  local  governor; 
he  imprisoned  my  father,  and  proposed  to  torture  and  kill 
him,  and  confiscate  his  property.  Americans  would  relish 
living  under  this  sort  of  government.  His  partner,  the 
consul,  saved  him,  however,  and  won  his  undying  gratitude; 
and  when  Mr.  Barker  died,  my  father  gave  his  son  a  part 
of  his  own  orchard  for  a  burial  ground.  The  son  erected  a 
beautiful  $25,000  monument  there,  which  still  stands,  the 
ground  being  owned  by  my  brother,  Moses  Filian. 

When  I  was  fourteen  or  fifteen,  my  father  lost  all  his 
money  through  the  failure  of  others,  became  hopelessly 
bankrupt,  and  was  too  old  to  regain  his  position,  and  sank 
into  a  poor  and  broken-hearted  old  man:  his  Mediterranean 
was  not  inexhaustible.  He  often  patted  me  and  said,  "  My 
dear  boy,  I  am  sorry  —  I  helped  your  brothers  and  gave 
them  good  educations,  and  I  meant  to  do  the  same  by  you; 
but  I  cannoi,  for  I  am  too  poor.  You  will  have  to  make 
your  own  way."  He  was  a  devoted  friend  of  education, 
himself  highly  educated,  master  of  three  languages,— Ar- 

(xii) 


s 


^  €©s' 


i^ 


».*-«» 


•':  .•.'" 


THE   AUTHOR.  ^.jjj 

mouian,  Arabic,  and  Turkish,— and  of  slronjj  roaRoninjr 
powers,  lo^^ical,  iniaj^inative,  profound,  an<l  far-sl^litiMl. 
Moreover,  lie  was  a  zealous  Cliristian,  jfreatly  respected  and 
liked.  In  person  he  was  tall,  and  very  stout,  with  larjj:e, 
hrijjht  eyes,  and  full,  rosy  cheeks;  built  like  luy  great-j;rand- 
father,  from  whose  elephantine  figure  the  family  took  its 
surname.  Filian  means  "  Sou  of  an  elephant,"  and  his  de- 
scendants —  about  150  in  all,  one  of  the  largest  single  fami- 
lies in  the  Orient  —  have  been  mostly  large-framec!  men  and 
women. 

At  about  fifteen  I  had  to  go  to  work.  One  of  my  brothers 
being  a  weaver,  I  learned  that  trade  from  him,  and  kept  at 
it  for  three  years,  weaving  both  cotton  and  silk,  and  not 
only  supporting  myself,  but  helping  support  my  father. 
Then  I  took  up  shoemaking,  which  paid  better,  but  neither 
my  father  nor  myself  was  satisfied  to  have  me  remain  a 
common  workman.  He  wanted  me  to  become  a  banker  and 
merchant,  as  he  had  been,  and  his  old  friends,  who  re- 
spected him,  would  have  given  me  a  chance  to  start;  but  I 
had  always  been  devout  from  a  little  boy,  and  felt  that  I 
had  a  call  to  be  a  minister.  While  making  shoes,  I  prayed 
the  Lord  to  open  the  way.  I  often  thought,  "  Suppose  I 
become  the  richest  shoemaker  or  even  the  richest  banker 
in  Antioch,  what  then?  Shall  I  ever  be  happy?  No.  Then 
Lord,  what  is  my  call  ?  "  I  believed  I  heard  the  answer- 
ing voice  of  God  in  my  soul  saying,  "  I  have  created  thee  to 
become  a  minister  of  the  gospel."  So  I  went  to  a  missionary 
of  the  American  Board  in  Antioch,  and  consulted  him;  by 
his  encouragement  I  went  to  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Marash,  in  Armenia  Minor,  and  studied  there  three  years 
in  the  preparatoi-y  course. 

Before  taking  my  tlieological  lessons  I  was  sent  by  the 
missionaries  to  Caesarea  (Kayserieh)  to  teach  in  a  town 
near  by.  On  reaching  the  city  the  pastor  of  the  Protestant 
Church  invited  me  to  preach  to  his  congregation  the  fol 
lowing  Sunday  morning.  I  did  so;  the  missionaries  heard 
me,  changed  their  minds,  said  I  was  better  fitted  for  a 
preacher  than  a  teacher,  and  sent  me  to  preach  at  a  vil- 
lage named  Chomakli,  near  Mt.  Argaeus.  The  Lord  seemed 
to  fill  me  with  eloquence,  and  crowds  flocked  to  hear  me. 


xiv  THE   AUTHOR. 

Then  the  missionaries  called  me  to  a  larger  field,  Talas,  their 
central  town;  the  same  fortune  attended  me  thei-e,  and 
steadily  followed  me  in  the  other  places  to  which  I  went. 
I  will  not  make  a  long  story  of  it.  Enough  to  say  that  I 
always  felt  utterly  helpless  before  preaching,  empty  of 
matter  and  words;  I  went  to  my  room  and  cried  to  my 
Heavenly  Father,  and  always  overflowed  with  things  to 
say  when  the  time  came.  There  was  no  limit  to  my  im- 
agination; illustrations  thronged  upon  me  by  hundi-eds;  I 
felt  inspired  from  Heaven.  I  never  wrote  a  sermon  before 
preaching  it,  but  wrote  it  down  literally  as  soon  as  I  had 
finished.  —  I  wrote  every  Monday.  —  and  they  are  all  ready 
to  be  published  in  both  Armenian  and  Turliish. 

I  was  a  successful  preacher,  but  1  had  no  theological  ed- 
ucation (though  I  studied  my  Bible  hard),  and  felt  that  I 
needed  one.  I  decided  to  go  to  America  for  it,  but  the 
missionaries  opposed  the  plan  bitterly.  One  of  the  ladies 
told  me  plainly  it  was  a  sin;  that  I  had  no  right  to  give  up 
a  successful  and  useful  ministry  to  go  there.  I  replied  that 
giving  up  the  ministry  would  be  a  sin,  but  not  going  away  to 
prepare  for  higher  usefulness,  and  coming  back  to  carry  it 
out.  Then  she  said  I  had  no  money  to  go,  and  did  not  un- 
derstand English.  I  answered  that  I  had  faith  that  God 
would  create  the  means.  She  laughingly  bade  me  give  her 
best  regards  to  her  friends  when  I  came.  She  meant  it  for 
a  joke,  but  I  carried  it  out  in  earnest. 

How  I  finally  came  to  this  country  would  take  too  long 
to  tell.  I  will  only  say  that  I  crossed  the  ocean  by  faith. 
When  I  reached  New  York  in  July,  1879,  I  had  only  15 
cents  in  my  pocket.  I  worked  hard  day  and  night  in  a 
rag  felt  factory  in  the  Bowery,  and  slept  on  the  rags  on 
the  floor,  covering  myself  with  a  piece  of  flannel.  But  the 
Lord  opened  the  way.  I  went  to  Oberlin,  Ohio,  and  studied 
there,  supporting  myself  by  sawing  wood  for  the  professors 
of  the  Theological  Seminary.  In  six  months  I  could  talk 
English  well  enough  to  lecture,  and  after  that  time  I  sup- 
ported myself  by  lecturing.  Finally  I  was  sent  to  Nebraska 
as  a  home  missionary  during  the  summer  vacation.  On  my 
return  I  entered  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  and 
graduated  there  in  1882,  after  which  I  lectured  rather  widely 


THE   AUTHOR.  XV 

tlirou;;h  the  country.  Then  I  went  home,  and  for  a  time 
was  pastor  of  the  Constantinople  KvanKelical  Armenian 
Church.  Later  I  had  a  call  from  Marsovan,  accepted  it. 
and  had  so  lar}?e  a  congregation  there  that  a  church  with  a 
capacity  of  2,000  was  needed.  I  returned  to  this  country, 
raised  the  money,  left  it  in  a  Chicago  bank  (where  it  still 
lies  in  trust),  and  went  back  to  build  the  church.  That  very 
success  aroused  the  jealousy  of  some  wicked  men,  and  they 
falsely  charged  me  with  being  the  leader  of  the  revolution- 
ary societies  in  Turkey.  On  this  charge  I  was  banished,  and 
now  I  am  here  again,— free  and  happy  with  my  family,  but 
full  of  sorrow  for  my  dear  people  daily  martyred  by  the 
Turks. 

ANTIOCH. 

The  city  of  Autioch,  where  the  disciples  were  first 
called  Christians,  (Acts  xi.  20,)  was  built  by  Seleucus  Nica- 
tor,  300  B.  C,  and  enlarged  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  All 
the  civilized  world  was  then  under  Roman  rule;  Rome. 
Antioch,  and  Jerusalem  were  the  leading  cities.  Jerusalem 
being  a  Jewish  city,  and  Rome  being  a  Roman  heathen 
city,  there  was  no  room  in  either  to  preach  the  gospel  freely: 
nor  indeed  in  any  other  —  the  disciples  were  persecuted  and 
martyred  everywhere.  There  was  just  one  exception  —  the 
city  of  Antioch;  that  was  as  free  as  any  American  city  is 
to-day.  This  arose  from  the  fact  that  when  in  the  Asiatic 
campaign  of  Pompey  the  Great,  he  cahie  about  05  B.  C.  to 
Antioch,  he  was  received  by  the  people  with  great  honors: 
and  was  so  charmed  with  the  city,  and  his  treatment,  that 
he  made  it  an  absolutely  free  city  for  all,  for  every  nation 
and  for  every  religion,  and  the  Roman  emperors  continued 
its  privileges.  When  Stephen  was  martyred  in  Jerusalem 
the  disciples  were  scattered;  some  of  them  reached  Antioch, 
300  miles  north,  and  began  to  preach  freely,  making  many 
converts.  Barnabas  was  in  Jerusalem,  but  hearing  of  his 
brethren's  success,  he  also  went  to  Antioch  and  began  to 
preach:  as  he  was  a  great  orator,  full  of  enthusiasm  and 
faith,  thousands  were  converted.  But  he  was  not  satis- 
fied. Crossing  the  Bay  of  Iskenderoon,  about  eighty  miles 
ofif,  he  went  to  Tarsus,  where  Paul,  now  a  convert,  was  liv- 


XYi  THE   AUTHOR. 

iiig,  and  indiu'ed  Paul  to  retuiii  with  him  to  Antioch  that 
tliey  might  preach  the  gospel  together. 

Only  scholars  have  any  idea  of  the  greatness  and  beauty 
of  Antioch  at  this  time;  it  was  second  only  to  Rome,  and 
was  the  second  largest  city  in  the  world,  with  nearly  a 
million  people;  so  rich  and  luxurious  as  to  be  called  the 
Golden  City;  so  lovely  and  architecturally  imposing  as  to 
be  called  the  Queen  City.  The  finest  street  ran  east  and 
west  for  several  miles;  it  was  of  great  width,  paved  from 
end  to  end  with  vari-colored  marble  blocks,  and  with  marble 
pillars  on  both  sides  along  its  whole  extent,  on  which  were 
magnificent  marble  palaces  of  the  Roman  officers.  In  that 
same  grand  avenue  were  theaters,  singers  of  both  sexes, 
fortune-tellers,  great  heathen  orators  and  philosophers,  and 
throngs  of  people  passing  along.  Paul  and  Barnabas  stood 
on  the  marble  pavement  month  after  month  for  a  year,  full 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  proclaimed  the  everlasting  gospel. 
Crowds  gathered  to  hear  them;  even  the  oflScers  and  their 
wives,  stretching  their  heads  from  the  windows  of  their 
palaces,  listened  to  them;  they  gained  disciples  from  every 
rank  for  Christ  and  His  religion,  and  the  converts  there  first 
received  the  name  of  Christians. 

This  was  my  birthplace  and  my  relatives  still  live  there. 
Since  the  time  of  Christ  and  his  disciples,  Antioch  has 
been  ten  times  destroyed  by  earthquakes.  In  the  fourth 
century  the  whole  city  was  destroyed,  and  250,000  people 
were  buried  under  the  ruins.  That  beautiful  sti-eet  and  its 
magnificent  palaces  are  now  buried  two  or  three  yards  be- 
low the  surface  of  the  ground.  In  1872,  w'hen  I  was  there, 
an  earthquake  destroyed  the  whole  city,  and  almost  in  a 
moment  several  thousand  people  perished.  Several  of  my 
own  relatives  and  many  of  my  friends  were  killed.  The 
city  has  now  only  25,000  people,  most  of  them  Mohammedan 
Turks.  There  are  many  Fellahin,  and  perhaps  2,000 
Greeks,  and  500  Armenians,  but  in  the  suburbs  the  Armen- 
ians are  more  numerous,  and  are  the  intellectual  heads  of 
the  whole. 

Antioch  is  still  a  beautiful  and  stately  city,  and  a  great 
center  fm-  licorice,  raw  silk,  wheat,  and  soap.  The  finest 
soap  is  manufactured  there.    About  thirty  factories  make 


THE   AUTHOR. 


xvii 


it,  from  pure  olive  oil  and  dapbue  oil,  the  latter  giving  it  a 
sweet  fragrance.  The  daphne  groves  are  very  numerous. 
The  city  has  excellent  orchards  and  vineyards,  orange  trees, 
olive  trees,  tig  trees,  yoniduinya  trees,  palm  trees,  pome- 
granate trees.  All  sorts  of  fruits,  in  every  season  of  the 
year,  are  fresh  on  the  branches.  But  for  occasional  earth- 
quakes, it  would  be  a  queen  city  yet;  none  could  surpass  its 
beauty  or  fruitfuluess. 

GEORGE  H.  FILIAN. 


CITY  OF  ANTIOCH. 


-^5^^ 


.r/'>-'ii 


*\ffn  -  't  .  T/nnfr, 


r4-f'^K\yii' 


^•^•vv  '  ^  ^A/*  ^T^f  -^^  V^^l^r^' 


/*-c  t^-'H'-vv^*"  **•  ^^*-i-  v*r-t  -f '  f^j'y^t  w-vV  •^^-r* 

^■^-^4—  -lr*T#t^*'**-'H*  y^-^Vir  -^-/Kr-/  W^^^^V 


Translation  of  a  letter  (see  opposite  page)  written  in 
1842  by  the  District  Catlioiicos  at  city  of  Sis  to  Kevorli 
Filiau  (father  of  the  author)  in  Antioch  : 


Red  Seal 

of 

Catholicos. 


Symbol 

in  colors 

representing 

an  Altar. 


Symbol 
in  colors 

Michael  Catholicos,  The  servant  of  Jesus 

representing    q^^^^^^    i,y    ^i^^    gj.^ee    of    OUT    Lord,    the 

the  name       supreme  father  of  all  Armenians   who  live 

Jesus  Christ,    iu    Great    Seleucia.      I    the    servant    of    St. 

Gregory's  right  hand  and  most  Holy  throne 

of   the   Holy   Mother   Church.    Greetings   of 

love  and  blessings  upon   my  spiritual  son  Kevork  Filian 

esteemed  and  honored  and  to  all  who  belong  to  his  family, 

perpetual  happiness  through  Jesus  Christ. 

Honorable  Gentleman.  You  will  be  informed  through 
my  letter  of  spiritual  greetings  and  blessings  that  truly 
and  earnestly,  more  than  a  father,  I  am  willing  to  bestow 
upon  you  my  blessings  and  praises,  and  in  order  to  show 
my  respect  practically,  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  thank  you  for 
your  hospitality,  when  I  came  to  your  blessed  home,  as  a 
spiritual  father,  where  I  was  entertained  and  received 
proper  honors.  The  Lord  bless  your  valuable  soul  and 
keep  you  prosperous  and  happy  through  the  mediation  of 
Jesus  and  St.  Gregory.  The  Lord  give  you  and  to  all  those 
who  belong  to  you,  power  and  ability  in  doing  good.  For 
a  long  time  I  have  desired  to  send  to  you  this  letter 
of  blessing;  but  I  have  not  been  able.  Now  I  am  glad  to 
send  to  you  one  of  my  spiritual  sons  Rev.  Sarkis  Vartabed 
(a  preacher).  When  he  comes  he  will  see  your  good  deeds 
and  enjoy  your  hospitality.    May  4.    1842. 

(xix) 


AUTHOR'S    EXPLANATION 


The  author  feels  that  it  is  due  to  both  his  Armenian 
readers  and  himself  to  explain  why,  in  some  points,  he  has 
deviated  alike  from  the  Armenian  historians  and  his  own 
conviction.  It  is  because  on  these  points,  the  Armenian 
records  are  in  irreconcilable  conflict  with  those  of  Rome  or 
Persia,  or  both,  and  in  a  book  mainly  for  Anglo-Saxon  read- 
ers it  is  not  possible  to  defy  the  general  consensus  of  western 
scholarship,  which,  in  my  judgment,  has  not  given  proper 
weight  to  Armenian  sources.  I  will  specify  only  two  or 
three  items;  if  my  Armenian  friends  notice  other  contra- 
dictions of  their  accepted  history  they  will  be  safe  in  setting 
them  down  to  the  same  cause. 

It  is  a  commonplace  of  Armenian  history  that  St. 
Gregory,  the  Illuminator,  the  Christianizer  of  Armenia,  was 
the  son  of  Anag,  the  murderer  of  King  Chosroes  (see  page  72) 
born  about  the  time  of  the  murder,  and  made  himself  the 
companion  of  Chosroes'  son,  Tiridates,  partly  in  order  to 
atone  for  his  father's  crime.  I  am  very  reluctant  to  omit 
this  fact;  but  the  birth  of  Gregory  and  the  death  of  Ardashir 
will  not  fit  according  to  western  dates,  though  they  are 
coherent  from  Armenian. 

I  have  also  given  twenty  years'  rule  and  a  good  character 
to  King  Artavasdes,  who  reigned  three  and  was  a  coward. 

Most  unwillingly  of  all,  I  have  changed  a  very  full  and 
eulogistic  account  of  Moses  Khorenatzi,  the  great  national 
historian  of  Armenia,  for  a  meager  and  depreciating  one. 
That  he  lived  in  the  fifth  century  and  wrote  as  an  eye  and 
ear  witness,  instead  of  being  a  not  wholly  veracious  com- 
piler of  two  centuries  later,  and  that  his  histoi-y  is  sound 
and  consistent,  is  my  firm  belief.  That  his  work  is  better 
known  than  all  other  Armenian  works  together,  and  is  the 
one  native  book  that  has  become  a  standard  western  classic, 
shows  the  powerful  genius  of  the  man. 

GEORGE    H.    FILIAN. 

(XX) 


I . 

THE  LAND  OF  ARMENIA. 

PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

Where  is  Armenia  ?  It  seems  a  simple  question, 
yet  during  my  lecturing  in  the  United  States  I  have 
met  far  more  people  who  did  not  know  than  who  did. 
That  is  natural  enough,  for  until  the  late  horrors,  it 
seemed  little  more  than  a  name  of  old  history,  of  no 
present  importance ;  but  there  is  a  further  reason.  The 
present  Sultan  forbids  the  use  of  the  name  altogether, 
and  insists  on  the  district  being  termed  Kurdistan, 
or  called  by  the  names  of  its  vilayets,  Diarbekr,  Van, 
Erzroom,  etc.  Many  maps  do  not  have  the  name 
Armenia  at  all.  A  few  years  ago,  when  the  mission- 
aries of  the  American  Board  were  organizing  the  col- 
lege at  Harpoot,  now  so  bloodily  famous,  they  named 
it  Armenia  College;  but  the  Sultan  forbade  it  on 
the  ground  that  there  was  no  longer  an  Armenia,  and 
the  use  of  the  name  would  encourage  the  Armenians* 
to  revolt.  The  missionaries  were  forced  to  change  the 
name  to  Euphrates  College.  If  any  Turkish  subject 
uses  the  word,  he  is  fined  and  imprisoned;  if  it  is  used 
in  any  book,  the  book  is  confiscated,  and  the  author 
banished  or  killed.     The  study  of  Armenian  history 

♦The  word  "Armenian"  is  not  altogether  indicative  of  race,  it  refers  more 
particularly  to  those  who  are  Christianp.  Any  who  have  forsaken  the  faith  and 
become  Mohammedans  are  no  longer  regarded  as  Armenians,  bat  are  Turka. 

(21) 


22  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

is  forbidden  to  the  Armenians;  they  must  be  kept  in 
ignorance  about  their  own  land,  so  that  many  of  them 
do  not  know  where  Armenia  was  or  what  Armenia  is. 
A  letter  directed  to  any  person  or  place  in  Armenia 
will  never  reach  its  destination;  for  the  Turkish  pos- 
tal authorities  recognize  no  such  address.  There  is 
still  another  cause  for  the  widespread  ignorance 
concerning  Armenia.  It  has  been  partitioned  be- 
tween three  different  powers,  Turkey,  Russia,  and  Per- 
sia. The  northern  part,  from  Batoum  on  the  Black 
Sea  to  Baku  on  the  Caspian, —  the  river  Araxes  being 
the  boundary  to  near  Mt.  Ararat, —  belongs  to  Rus- 
sia; the  southeastern  course  of  the  Araxes  from  near 
Mt.  Ararat,  to  Persia ;  the  largest  and  most  fertile  part, 
the  western,  from  Mt.  Ararat  to  the  Black  Sea  and 
the  Kizil-Irmak  to  Turkey.  But  at  the  time  of  its 
greatest  extent  and  power,  when  its  people  were  great 
and  its  kings  were  great,  long  before  Alexander's  con- 
quest, —  Armenia  covered  about  500,000  square 
miles,  and  stretched  from  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Cau- 
casus on  the  north  to  Persia,  and  Syria  on  the  south, 
from  the  Caspian  and  a  much  smaller  Persia  on  the 
east,  to  Cilicia  and  far  beyond  the  Halys  (Kizil-Ir- 
mak)  on  the  west,  but  including  also  old  Media  and  a 
part  of  Mesopotamia. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  of  countries;  tra- 
velers call  it  the  Switzerland  of  Asia.  Its  general 
character  is  that  of  a  plateau  some  4,000  feet  above 
the  sea,  a  natural  garden  watered  by  noble  streams 
and  studded  with  beautiful  lakes;  but  the  mountain 


*M*OUNt"  ARARAT. 


THE  LAND  OF  ARMENIA.  23 

ranges  are  7,000  to  8,000  on  the  average,  while  that 
historic  Land-mark,  the  superb  snow-capped  Mt.  Ara- 
rat, is  about  1 8,000, —  towering  toward  Heaven  nearly 
in  the  center  of  Armenia,  piercing  and  ruling  over  the 
clouds  and  the  storms. 

Armenia  is  the  mother  land,  the  cradle  of  human- 
ity, and  all  other  lands  are  her  daughters;  but  she  is 
fairer  than  any  other.  Even  her  mountain  tops  of  per- 
petual snow  are  a  crown  of  glory;  the  sun  kisses  her 
Ijrow  with  the  smile  of  morning;  and  she  supplies  the 
beautiful  rivei's,  Euphrates,  Tigris,  Pison,  Araxes, 
and  many  others  from  the  jewels  of  her  crown.  These 
rivers  penetrate  to  every  corner  of  the  land;  traverse 
many  hundreds  of  miles  to  give  life  to  the  fields,  the 
vineyards,  and  the  orchards,  to  turn  the  mills,  and  final- 
ly close  their  course  in  the  Caspian  Sea,  the  Black  Sea, 
and  the  Gulf  of  Persia,  carrying  the  bounty  and  good- 
will messages  of  the  mother  land  to  her  children  in  re- 
mote parts,  to  Persia,  India,  and  Russia.  From  the 
same  inexhaustible  reservoir  she  feeds  her  noble 
lakes;  Sevan  (Gokche),  Urumiah,  Van  and  the  rest. 
Lake  Sevan  is  the  only  sweet-water  lake;  the 
others  are  salt.  The  most  important  is  Lake  Van, 
probably  the  most  elevated  of  any  large-sized  lake  in 
the  world;  it  is  5,400  feet  above  sea  level,  and  its  area 
is  1,400  square  miles.  A  few  words  from  the  author^s 
respected  teacher.  Professor  Philip  Schaff,  will  not 
be  amiss.  Schaff's  Bible  Dictionary,  page  68, 
"Physical  Features  of  Armenia,"  says:  "It  is 
chiefly  an  elevated  plateau  about  7,000  feet  above 


24  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

the  level  of  the  sea,  the  highest  peak  being  Mt.  Ararat. 
The  lower  portions  of  the  plateau  are  broken  by  val- 
leys and  glens,  including  the  fertile  valleys  of  the  Eu- 
phrates and  Tigris.  It  is  watered  by  four  large 
streams,  the  Araxes,  the  Kur,  the  Euphrates,  and  the 
Tigris;  also  by  numerous  lakes,  one  of  the  largest,  the 
salt  Lake  Van,  being  over  5,400  feet  above  the  sea." 

NATURAL   RESOURCES. 

The  mineral  wealth  of  Armenia  is  very  great;  but 
like  the  other  potential  riches  of  the  Turkish  Em- 
pire, it  profits  nobody,  not  even  the  greedy  despot 
whose  word  is  death.  Gold,  silver,  copper,  iron,  and 
minor  metals,  besides  marble  and  other  beautiful 
stones,  are  present  in  abundance.  About  three  miles 
from  Marsovan,  where  I  preached,  is  a  mountain  called 
Tarshan  Dagh  (rabbit  mountain),  rich  in  gold;  another 
called  Goomish  Dagh,  about  eight  miles  west,  is  laden 
with  silver;  and  they  are  likely  to  remain  so,  for  no 
one  will  rifle  them  of  their  treasures  while  Turkey  en- 
dures. The  Sultan,  it  is  true,  sends  an  officer  from 
Constantinople  under  large  salary,  to  take  out  the  pre- 
cious metals,  but  that  person  does  very  little  work. 
He  lives  like  a  lord,  lets  things  go  as  they  will,  bribes 
the  palace  officials,  and  all  the  gold  and  silver  extracted 
does  not  pay  his  wages.  The  Sultan  will  not  permit 
Christians  to  work  mines,  and  if  they  did,  he  would 
rob  them  of  the  proceeds.  Everywhere  the  condition 
is  the  same.  Though  Armenia  is  the  oldest  inhabited 
country,  she  is,  in  utilization,  the  newest;  much  newer 


THE  LAND  OF  ARMENIA.  25 

than  the  United  States,  for  indeed  she  does  not  exist 
yet.  She  is  a  virgin  land,  her  mines  not  open,  her 
soil  not  half  tilled.  The  Turks  and  the  Kurds  are 
lazy  and  stagnant;  they  will  do  nothing,  and  they  will 
not  permit  the  industrious  Armenian  Christians  to  do 
anything  of  importance. 

The  country  has  all  the  old  fertility  which  made 
Asia  Minor  under  the  Byzantine  Empire  the  garden 
of  the  world,  till  the  Turks  half  turned  it  into  a  desert, 
as  thoy  do  every  spot  accursed  by  their  presence.  The 
grain,  the  fruit,  the  vegetables  are  hardly,  if  at  all,  to 
be  equaled.  The  watermelons  raised  on  the  banks 
of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigiis  are  the  largest  and 
sweetest  of  their  kind;  two  melons  are  sometimes  a 
(^ameFs  load.  It  is  impossible  for  a  family  to  use  the 
whole  of  such  a  melon,  which  has  to  be  cut  up  and  sold 
in  pieces.  The  grapes,  either  fresh  or  in  the  shape 
of  wine  or  raisins,  are  of  the  first  rank.  Many  varier 
ties  when  cured  and  dried  as  raisins  exceed  in  size 
the  plumpest  grapes  of  other  lands.  Nearly  every- 
thing is  raised  or  grows  wild  in  Armenia  which  is  to 
be  had  in  the  Northern  or  Southern  States  of  America, 
though  of  course  each  country  has  some  things  pecu- 
liar to  itself.  The  products  of  the  North  are  paral- 
leled by  those  of  the  rugged  picturesque  highlands  of 
Xorth  Turkish  and  Russian  Armenia,  with  their  cold, 
snowy  winters,  short,  hot  summers,  and  mild  inter- 
vening seasons;  those  of  the  South  find  their  counter- 
parts from  the  rich  upland  valleys,  or  the  lowland 
plains  needing  irrigation,  of  Kurdistan  and  Persian 


26  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE.  / 

Armenia  (Azerbijan),  with  its  semi-tropical  climate, 
and  alternations  of  wet  and  dry  seasons.  The  grain 
crops  are  wheat,  Indian  corn,  barley,  and  oats.  Cot- 
ton is  one  of  the  main  products ;  a  great  deal  of  tobacco 
and  rice  are  raised;  and  sugar  is  made  in  the  Persian 
part.  In  the  fields  and  gardens  you  can  find  not  only 
the  wonderful  melons  I  have  just  spoken  of,  but 
pumpkins  and  squashes,  lettuce  and  egg-plant,  and 
indeed  most  of  the  vegetables  that  come  to  an  Ameri- 
can table.  As  to  fruits,  all  that  you  know  we  know 
also,  only  of  finer  flavors.  Asia  Minor  is  the  original 
home  of  the  quince,  the  apricot,  and  the  nectarine, 
and  I  believe  of  the  peach  too ;  while  our  apples,  pears, 
and  plums  are  incomparable.  The  Muscat  apples  of 
Amassia  are  exceptional  even  there.  After  eating 
them,  one  hardly  wonders  that  Adam  and  Eve  could 
not  resist  the  temptation  of  doing  the  same,  at  the 
cost  of  innocence  and  Eden.  The  pears  of  Malatia 
keep  them  company;  and  the  quince  grows  sometimes 
as  large  as  a  man's  head.  Another  fruit  equally  im- 
portant is  the  mulberry  for  silk-worms.  The  olive 
and  fig  are  cultivated  and  also  grow  wild,  and  filberts 
and  walnuts  can  be  gathered  anywhere  in  the  woods, 
as  well  as  orchards;  of  course  not  the  American  "  hick- 
ory nuts,"  but  the  "  English  walnuts  "  of  the  gro- 
ceries. 

In  spite  of  the  dreadful  roads,  and  the  lack  of  pro- 
tection for  travelers,  the  Armenians  manage  to  send  a 
good  deal  of  grown  or  manufactured  stuff  to  the  ports 
on  the  Black  and  Caspian  seas, —  Trebizond,  Batoum, 


THE  LAND  OF  ARMENIA.  27 

Poti,  Baku, —  silk  and  cotton,  and  fabrics  made  from 
the?n;  hides  and  leather,  including  lambskins;  wine, 
dried  fruits,  raisins,  tobacco,  drugs,  and  dyestuffs, 
wax,  and  other  things. 

Methods  of  cultivation  are  probably  much  like 
what  they  were  in  Abraham's  time;  there  are  no  very 
modern  machines  or  even  tools.  The  plough  is  not 
quite  the  mere  scratching-stick  of  the  savages,  to  be 
sure ;  but  it  is  only  a  crooked  piece  of  wood  with  a  bit 
of  iron  fastened  to  the  end  that  touches  the  ground, 
drawn  by  oxen  and  held  by  the  farmer.  The  fields  of 
grain  are  reaped  by  the  sickle  as  of  old ;  it  takes  as  long 
to  cut  down  one  acre  so  as  fifty  by  a  common  mowing 
machine.  The  sheaves  are  carried  to  a  gal  or  thresh- 
ing floor  near  the  house,  an  open  platform,  not  shel- 
tered from  the  weather;  and  there  the  grain  is  sepa- 
rated from  the  straw  by  a  process  so  curious  that  I 
doubt  if  any  American,  save  a  missionary  to  Armenia, 
has  ever  heard  of  it.  It  is  not  treading  it  out  under 
the  feet  of  the  cattle,  as  pictured  in  the  Bible,  nor 
beating  it  out  with  a  flail;  both  these  methods  kept 
the  straw  whole.  A  threshing  board  is  made  by 
fastening  hundreds  of  sharp  flints  into  a  wooden 
frame;  the  grain  is  placed  between  this  and  the 
threshing  floor,  the  oxen  attached  to  the  board,  and 
the  farmer  sitting  on  it  drives  them  round  and  round 
in  a  circle  until  the  straw  is  cut  fine,  and  the  grain 
well  rubbed  and  shaken  loose.  Then,  on  the  first 
windy  day,  he  takes  the  old  hand  fan  or  winnow,  and 
separates  the  grain  from  the  straw,  keeping  the  latter 


28  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

to  feed  the  animals  in  winter;  for  the  long  grass  of 
American  plateaus,  and  the  barns  of  hay  from  them, 
are  seldom  seen  in  Armenia. 

The  wheat  crops  are  extraordinary ;  not  only  great 
in  yield,  but  the  grains  often  double  the  size  of  ordi- 
nary American  wheat,  as  compared  with  specimens 
from  the  large  and  representative  fields  of  Minnesota 

and  Nebraska. 

TAXATION. 

But  when  this  wheat  is  threshed  out,  the  farmer 
cannot  shovel  it  up  and  grind,  or  sell,  or  put  it  into 
bins;  no  indeed  !  He  cannot  take  up  a  quart  of  it 
without  permission  from  the  government ;  for  the  gov- 
ernment claims  one-eighth  of  it  as  a  tax, —  it  was 
always  a  ^'  tithe  "  or  tenth  from  the  oldest  historic 
times  down  to  the  present  Sultan,  but  he  raised  the 
percentage  to  an  eighth, —  and  it  must  stay  on  that 
exposed  threshing  floor,  in  rain  or  winds,  or  any  sort 
of  weather,  till  the  tax-gatherer  comes  and  measures 
it,  which  may  be  a  week,  or  two  weeks,  or  a  month, 
and  will  be  forever  unless  he  is  bribed  to  come.  Nor 
is  even  this  double  tax  all;  the  tax-gatherer  is  a  tax 
farmer, —  that  is,  he  pays  a  lump  sum  to  the  govern- 
ment for  the  taxes  of  a  district,  and  all  he  can  get 
above  that  is  so  much  profit  to  him;  so  if  the  grain 
on  a  threshing  floor  actually  measures  ten  bushels,  say, 
he  will  write  it  fifteen.  After  the  farmer  has  paid 
first  the  tax  on  the  land  to  the  government  direct,  then 
the  double,  or  rather  treble,  tax  to  the  gatherer  on  the 
crops,  more  than  half  the  income  he  can  get  from  the 


THE  LAND  OP  ARMENIA.  29 

land  has  gone  to  the  government.  I  do  not  know  an 
Armenian  farmer  who  is  not  in  debt;  they  work  hanl, 
but  the  products  of  their  labor  go  to  the  government 
and  the  Kurds,  and  any  one  who  complains  is  con- 
sidered a  revolutionist,  and  imprisoned  or  killed.  The 
simple  unvarnished  truth  is  that  an  Armenian  Chris- 
tian has  no  rights  of  life  or  property  whatever;  and 
all  he  keeps  of  either  (not  very  much)  is  what  the  reg- 
ularly appointed  officials  or  the  self-appointed  Kurdish 
fleecers  choose  to  leave  him. 

This,  however,  is  anticipating.  I  have  only 
begun  on  the  catalogue  of  taxes  which  strip  most 
Armenians,  and  are  intended  to  strip  them,  of  every- 
thing but  the  means  of  sustaining  life  and  perpetuating 
their  race.  When  a  boy  is  born,  a  poll-tax  is  laid  on 
him, —  two  dollars  on  the  average, —  which  must  be 
paid  every  year  as  long  as  he  lives,  whether  he  remains 
in  Armenia  or  leaves  it.  Of  course,  during  boyhood 
the  parents  have  to  pay  this  tax  on  every  male  child ;  if 
a  woman  is  widowed,  she  has  to  go  on  paying  these 
capitation  taxes  just  the  same.  They  are  assumed  to 
be  taxes  in  lieu  of  military  service;  the  Sultan  takes  no 
soldiers  from  the  Armenians, —  does  not  dare, —  and 
this  poll-tax  is  used  to  raise  and  pay  that  very  Tiirkish 
army  which  in  return  butchers  the  Armenians,  just 
as  the  old  tribute  of  Christian  children  was  used  to 
butcher  their  parents.  (That  the  Armenians  are  un- 
warlike  and  would  not  make  good  soldiers  is  ridicu- 
lously untrue;  many  of  the  best  soldiers  and  best  of- 
ficers, even  commanders-in-chief,  in  the  Kussian  ser- 


30  AKMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

vice  are  Armenians.)  When   the   boy    has    attained 
manhood  he  pays  his  own  tax, —  he  must  have  a  paper 
of  citizenship,  which  must  be  renewed  every  year,  and 
for  which  he  must  pay;  but  he  is  not  allowed  to  leave 
the  country  without  providing  absolute  security,  either 
in  property  or  bondsmen,  for  paying  that  tax  through 
life,  wherever  he  may  be.     Of  course  this  is  utterly 
impossible  in  most  cases, —  men  of  property  do  not 
often  migrate,  and  men  without  property  do  not  easily 
get  people  to  be  responsible  for  lifelong  obligation  to 
let  them  emigrate;  which  is  one  chief  reason  why  so 
few  Armenians,  except  banished  ones,  or  runaways, 
are  seen  in  foreign  countries.     Furthermore,  as  I  have 
said,  he  must  pay  for  a  passport  every  time  he  stirs 
from  home.     Land,  houses,  cattle,  crops,  are  all  sep- 
arately taxed.     Suppose  an  Armenian  owns  a  vine- 
yard.    First,  the  land  is  taxed;  there  is  a  separate  tax 
for  irrigation,  a  third  for  the  grapes,  a  fourth  if  you 
make  wine  from  them.     In  all,  a  vineyard  pays  five 
taxes,  and  the  government  gets  more  than  the  owner. 
Why  don't  they  emigrate  ?  ask  my  American 
friends.       I  have  given  one  explanation.       Pharaoh 
would  not  permit  the  Hebrews  to  go  away,  nor  will 
the  Sultan  permit  the  Armenians.     Another  reason 
is  that  even  if  one  has  property,  it  is  very  hard  to  sell  it. 
Turks  have  no  money  and  Armenians  no  confidence. 
And  to  run  away  to  a  foreign  country,  whose  language 
you  do  not  know,  wholly  without  money,  is  so  desper- 
ate a  remedy  that  most  of  them  shrink  from  it. 


THE  LAND  OF  ARMENIA.  31 

THE  CLIMATE. 

Armenia,  in  my  belief,  is  the  healthiest  country  in 
t^e  world;  I  do  not  say  one  of  the  healthiest,  but  the 
very  healthiest.  The  climate  is  excellent  all  the  year 
round,  and,  though  the  winters  are  severe,  and  much  of 
the  country  is  covered  with  snow,  yet  on  account  of  the 
elevation  —  being  several  thousand  feet  above  sea 
level,  and  in  latitude  36^  to  42^,  or  say  from  North 
Carolina  to  Massachusetts  —  thejair  is  dry,  pure,  and 
agreeable,  a  preventative  of  disease,  and  conducive  to  / 
longevity.  The  dread  disease,  consumption,  does  not  ^ 
exist  there,  while  dyspeptics,  if  any  are  to  be  found,  j 
must  have  been  imported.  The  perfect  type  of  physi- 
cal vigor  is  to  be  seen  there.  Generally  the  Armen-  i 
ians  are  tall,  powerful,  and  ruddy  cheeked,  full  of  en- 
durance  and  energy.  Shrewd  and  enterprising  they 
are,  as  reputed ;  bjut  pure  and  honest  t90.  They  are 
longer  lived  than  any  other  people.  I  have  known 
Armenians  of  115  and  even  125  years  of  age;  one  old 
lady  of  my  acquaintance  at  115  was  full  of  life  and 
fuji;  I  have  seen  her  dance  at  wedding  festivities  like 
a  girl  of  15.  An  old  gentleman  of  125  was  my  neigh- 
bor; he  worked  on  his  farm  as  if  he  were  not  over  25. 
He  could  run  and  jump  and  was  as  gay  as  a  boy,  and 
greatly  enjoyed  children's  society.  If  the  people  of  ; 
Armenia  could  have  the  same  government,  the  same 
encouragements,  the  same  freedom  from  horrible  fears, 
as  the  people  of  the  United  States,  they  would  live 
many,  many  years  longer  than  they  do,  till  it  might  be 


32  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

necessary  to  kill  the  old  folks  in  order  to  get  rid  of  them. 
The  most  of  the  American  missionaries  in  Armenia 
would  be  sure  to  echo  these  words.  A  returned  mis- 
sionary gave  a  striking  testimony  to  this  effect.  He 
was  addressing  the  students  of  the  Chicago  Theological 
Seminary,  and  spoke  as  follows: — '^  Before  I  became 
a  missionary  I  had  very  poor  health ;  most  of  my  family 
died  of  hereditary  consumption,  and  I  was  attacked  by 
it.  My  physicians  strongly  protested  against  my 
becoming  a  missionary,  saying  that  if  I  went  to  a 
foreign  land  I  would  grow  worse,  and  probably  die 
there.  I  paid  no  attention  to  this;  I  presumed  they 
Avere  right,  but  I  was  determined  to  go  anyway,  and  if 
I  must  die,  to  die  in  my  chosen  work.  When  I  offered 
myself  to  the  American  Board,  I  was  allotted  to 
Armenia,  and  thither  I  went;  my  disease  disappeared 
and  now  I  am  as  healthy  as  any  missionary  in  the 
world.  You  see  how  stout  and  vigorous  I  look,  and 
I  do  not  expect  to  die  soon.  But  I  feel  sure  that  if  I 
had  stayed  in  America  to  save  my  life,  I  should  have 
lost  it  before  this  time."  He  is  still  living  in  Armenia, 
and  I  hope  will  live  to  be  over  a  hundred,  as  many  of 
the  natives  do. 

The  reader  will  smile  at  all  this  as  the  patriotic 
boastfulness  of  an  Armenian,  and  say  perhaps  that  he 
can  make  as  fabulous  declarations  for  his  own  land, 
wherever  he  may  be;  but  such  claims  cannot  be  sub- 
stantiated by  records  and  personal  observations  as 
these  for  Armenia  can.  Take  the  Bible ;  some  of  the 
Patriarchs  lived  to  be  700,  800,  one  even  to  969,  if 


THE  LAND  OF  ARMENIA.  33 

indeed  he  ever  died  a  natural  death;  some  were  taken 
up  to  heaven  without  knowing  death;  and  all  those 
long  lives,  as  will  be  shown,  were  lived  in  Armenia. 
God's  judgment  was  good.  He  did  not  create  man 
in  America,  Europe,  or  India,  or  anywhere  but  in 
Armenia.  He  came  down  there  from  Heaven,  planted 
the  Garden  of  Eden  there,  and  from  the  dust  of  that 
land  created  the  first  man.  When  the  race  had  be- 
come sinful  and  only  Noah's  family  were  preserved,  the 
ark  was  not  brought  to  rest  on  the  Rockies,  the  Alps, 
or  the  Himalayas,  but  on  Ararat  in  Armenia. 

Where  was  the  Garden  of  Eden  ?  In  my  belief, 
around  Lake  Van,  the  highest  lake,  the  largest  lake, 
and  the  most  picturesque  lake  in  the  Bible  lands;  its 
surrounding  country,  mountains,  plains,  flower  gar- 
dens, and  orchards,  make  it  a  most  charming  spot,  and 
quite  worthy  to  have  been  the  seat  of  Paradise  on 
earth.  As  the  wickedest  cities,  Sodom  and  Gomorrah, 
were  on  the  lowest,  ugliest,  and  nastiest  lake,  the  Dead 
Sea,  it  is  natural  that  Paradise  should  be  on  the  highest 
and  loveliest  one.  A  certain  very  learned  Gospel 
minister,  who  desired  to  change  my  views  respecting 
the  Garden  of  Eden,  declared  that  when  the  North 
Pole  was  discovered  the  Garden  of  Eden  would  be. 
Some  think  it  was  in  India,  and  there  are  about  as 
many  opinions  as  there  are  countries  on  the  earth. 
The  Bible,  however,  seems  to  be  pretty  clear  about  it 
and  settles  the  question  to  the  Armenian  mind;  we 
feel,  therefore,  that  we  cannot  be  far  from  the  Scrip- 
tural descriptions. 
3 


34  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

TRAVEL  AND  TRANSPORTATION. 

Both  are  as  hard  in  Armenia  as  they  can  be,  short 
of  impossibility.  In  the  Russian  section  the  roads 
are  as  good  as  in  any  part  of  Russia,  and  there  are 
railroads;  but  in  Persian  and  Turkish  Armenia  there 
are  none  of  the  latter,  and  the  roads  are  very  poor 
bridle-paths.  A  few  years  ago  the  government  levied 
an  extra  tax  to  build  "  Shosse  Yolou  "  or  macadam- 
ized roads  for  carriages;  but  most  of  the  money 
was  spent  as  usual,  in  a  good  time  for  the  Turkish 
officials;  the  roads  built  were  wretched,  and  riding 
over  them  in  the  springless  carriages  of  the  country 
is  weariness  and  torture.  Most  of  the  traveling  is 
done  on  horseback  or  muleback,  while  the  transporta- 
tion of  goods  is  almost  entirely  by  camels  and  don- 
keys. 

An  hour's  journey  in  America  in  distance  is  a  two 
days'  journey  in  Armenia,  and  it  must  be  accomplished 
on  horseback,  muleback,  or  foot;  or  perhaps  in  a 
wagon  without  springs.  Almost  all  the  horse  and 
mule  keepers  are  Turks,  Kurds  or  Circassians,  all 
Mohammedans  and  of  the  lowest  types, —  which  does 
not  increase  either  the  comfort  or  the  security  of  a 
journey.  The  tenders  and  drivers  of  animals  are 
never  of  a  very  high  order  of  men  in  any  country;  in 
Armenia  they  are  specially  vulgar,  dirty,  and  some- 
times dangerous  brutes.  If  you  wish  to  travel  with 
your  family,  you  must  arrange  with  the  horse-keeper 
several  days  or  even  weeks  beforehand;  if  he  is  ready 
when  the  time  comes,  he  calls  at  your  house  and  tells 


THE  LAND  OF  ARMENIA.  35 

you.  If  animals  are  used  and  the  family  large,  bas- 
kets will  be  needed  to  put  the  children  in;  they  are 
put  on  the  animals  like  panniers,  one  on  each  side 
with  the  mother  between.  This  is  attended  with  more 
(►r  less  danger  from  accidents  of  various  kinds,  liable  to 
occur  on  the  unkept  paths,  which,  rough  in  some 
places  and  horribly  muddy  in  others,  are  used  for 
roads.  As  in  the  case  of  the  writer,  who,  when  an 
infant,  nearly  lost  his  life  before  he  could  be  pulled 
out  of  the  mud  into  which  he  had  fallen  from  his 
mother's  arms,  she  being  thrown  from  the  stumbling 
horse  she  was  riding. 

A  more  modern  way  of  travel  is  in  springless 
carriages;  which  on  the  rough  roads  means  racking 
your  body  horribly,  bones,  nerves,  and  all,  into  out- 
right and  often  severe  suffering,  a  pain  and  fatigue 
which  the  traveler  feels  for  a  long  time.  At  evening 
all  travelers  must  go  to  a  caravanserai  or  khan ;  often 
they  are  all  huddled  into  a  single  room,  men,  women, 
and  children,  and  the  room  is  invariably  filthy,  and  full 
of  every  kind  of  vermin.  Such  getting  about  is  con- 
stant torment. 

There  is  no  safety  in  traveling;  Kurdish,  Circas- 
sian, or  Georgian  brigands  may  meet  you  on  the  roads 
anywhere,  and  plunder,  torture,  or  perhaps  kill  you. 
A  few  years  ago,  when  traveling  in  Armenia  with  a 
company  of  about  forty  persons  of  both  sexes,  we 
came  to  a  forested  pass  between  two  mountains.  Sud- 
denly three  men  leaped  out  in  front  of  us;  they  were 
Georgian  brigands  (Mohammedans),  armed  from  top 


36  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

to  toe.  They  stopped  the  caravan,  picked  out  the 
rich  persons  and  the  Christians,  and  robbed  them  of 
all  their  valuables.  They  did  not  search  the  writer, 
probably  supposing  that  as  a  minister  he  was  too  poor 
to  be  worth  troubling.  The  women  were  dreadfully 
frightened,  for  the  robbers  declared  that  if  they  did  not 
give  up  their  earrings  their  ears  would  be  cut  off,  and 
if  they  did  not  give  up  their  bracelets  their  hands 
would  be  cut  off.  It  can  easily  be  imagined  that  they 
made  haste  to  relinquish  all  their  valuables.  Such 
robberies  take  place  every  day  in  Armenia,  for  there 
is  no  protection  or  redress  whatever;  it  is  a  matter  of 
indifference  at  best,  and  probably  of  satisfaction,  to 
the  Sultan  and  his  governors. 

The  brigands  are  not  the  only  robbers.  Bear  in 
mind  that  before  any  one  in  Armenia  can  travel  at 
all,  the  government  officials  plunder  him.  He  must 
get  a  passport  first;  I  do  not  mean  when  he  goes  to 
foreign  countries,  for  an  Armenian  is  forbidden  to  go 
there  at  all, —  all  who  are  in  other  lands  reached  there 
by  bribing  the  police  and  running  away, —  but  when 
he  goes  to  another  place  or  town  in  Armenia  itself, 
even  if  it  is  not  over  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  off.  This 
passport  will  cost  him  from  two  to  five  dollars  in 
bribes  to  the  officials  to  let  him  have  it.  When  he 
reaches  his  destination,  the  officials  of  the  latter  place 
must  examine  his  passport,  and  they  force  him  to  pay 
for  the  examination,  else  they  will  not  let  him  enter 
the  town.  So  the  Armenians  are  robbed  at  every 
step  whether  they  travel  or  stay  at  home. 


THE  LAND  OF  ARMENIA.  87 

Transportation  of  goods  is  even  harder.  Nearly 
all  goods  are  carried  on  camels  or  donkeys  which  never 
go  more  than  ten  miles  a  day,  and  of  course  much  less 
in  bad  spots;  it  takes  months  and  even  a  year  to  get 
goods  if  they  have  to  come  very  far,  or  may  never  be 
received.  If  an  Armenian  merchant  orders  goods 
from  Constantinople,  say  500  miles  away,  it  takes 
five  or  six  months  at  best  from  the  time  of  sending  the 
order  to  the  time  of  receiving  the  goods,  even  if  he 
ever  gets  them,  no  matter  what  condition  they  are  in. 

The  difficulties  of  transportation  prevent  the  ex- 
port, to  any  extent,  of  Armenian  products  to  foreign 
countries,  and  even  between  neighboring  cities  ex- 
change of  supplies  is  well-nigh  impossible.  As 
all  through  the  East,  there  is  often  famine  in  one 
part  of  Armenia,  while  there  is  plenty  in  other  parts; 
one  city  may  be  hungry  while  another  is  feasting;  one 
willing  to  pay  any  price  but  unable  to  buy,  another 
eager  to  sell  but  with  no  one  to  sell  to;  because  there 
is  no  way  to  transport  the  grain  or  produce.  Yet  good 
highways  are  not  built  because  the  officials  embezzle 
the  funds,  railroads  are  not  built  because  it  would 
hinder  the  Sultan  from  crushing  the  people. 

It  may  be  asked.  Are  there  no  railroads  in  Turkey  ? 
and  will  not  the  Sultan  permit  them,  and  are  there  not 
Armenians  in  the  places  along  their  route  ?  Yes, 
there  are  a  few  short  lines;  one  from  Constantinople 
to  Adrianople,  one  from  Constantinople  to  Angora, 
one  from  Smyrna  to  Aiden,  one  from  Mersina  to 
Adana,  one  from  Joppa  to  Jerusalem.     I  think  there 


g8  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

is  also  one  lately  built  from  Beirout  to  Damascus.  The 
length  of  the  whole  system  is  not  over  1,000  miles, 
one  of  them  is  in  Europe,  part  of  them  are  tourist 
lines,  along  routes  that  streams  of  Europeans  would 
traverse  anyway.  Some  of  them  were  built  before 
the  time  of  the  present  Sultan ;  some  of  them  are  near 
the  seashore,  where  there  are  some  Armenian  emi- 
grants; but  none  of  these  roads  are  in  Armenia. 

Plenty  of  money  has  always  been  available  from 
European  and  even  Armenian  sources  to  build  rail- 
roads; syndicates  and  private  capitalists  have  tried 
again  and  again  to  get  permission  to  build  them;  but 
the  Sultan  will  not  grant  it,  for  it  runs  counter  to  his 
fixed  policy  of  isolating  the  Armenians,  to  make  their 
oppression  or  destruction  easier.  Railroads  would 
mean  not  only  prosperity  and  strength  for  the  people, 
but  easy  gathering  and  sending  out  of  news  to  the 
-world,  easy  bringing  of  help  from  the  world,  lighting 
up  the  dark  places,  and  exposing  the  horrors  of  the 
hell  now  existing.  When  they  are  built,  commerce 
will  follow;  Europeans  will  flock  in,  and  a  new  era 
dawn.  Who  are  the  commercial  class  ?  The  Armen- 
ian Christians  or  Europeans;  not  a  Turk  or  a  Kurd 
among  them.  Commerce  means,  then,  the  increase 
of  the  Christian  population;  wealth,  greatness,  security 
for  the  Armenians;  finally  freedom  from  the  Ottoman 
power.  Therefore  that  power  forbids  any  improve- 
ment of  the  backward  conditions. 


II. 

THE  PEOPLE  OF  ARMENIA. 

THEIR  LINEAGE. 

Who  are  the  Armenians  ?  The  average  Ameri- 
can knows  very  little  about  them,  while  few  even 
of  the  educated  classes  have  much  knowledge  of  the 
race  or  its  history.  Many  people  regard  them  as  bar- 
barians, partially  Christianized.  Some  think  them  of 
Chinese  type;  most  often  the^^  are  considered  as  Turks 
because  the  chief  portion  of  Armenia  is  part  of  the 
Turkish  Empire;  every  Armenian  feels  justly  indig- 
nant at  the  latter  classification.  The  old  story  applies 
of  the  Irishman  who  refused  to  consider  himself  an 
American  though  born  in  America,  on  the  ground  that 
"  being  born  in  a  stable  did  not  make  one  a  horse  " ;  we 
know  that  the  Scotch  and  English  in  Ireland  do  not 
consider  themselves  Irish ;  we  know  it  would  be  worse 
than  absurd  to  call  the  English  children  bom  in  India 
Hindoos.  When  the  missionaries  of  the  American 
Board  first  went  to  Turkey,  the  people  there  supposed 
from  the  name  American,  that  they  must  be  Indians, 
and  crowded  to  see  them  out  of  curiosity,  but  they 
were  much  surprised  and  probably  somewhat  disap- 
pointed when  they  found  them  very  like  themselves. 
In  the  same  way,  being  born  in  Turkish  Armenia 

does  not  make  one  a  Turk.     The  Turks  are  one  race, 

(39) 


40  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

the  Armenians  a  totally  different  one,  and  different  in 
the  very  foundation  type.  The  Turks  are  Turanian, 
the  Armenians  Aryan.  The  Turks  belong  to  the 
Turko-Tataric  stock ;  they  are  kinsmen  of  the  Tartars. 
The  primal  origin  of  the  Armenians  will  be  found 
in  Genesis,  Chapter  10, —  from  Togarmah,  the  son  of 
Gomer,  the  son  of  Japheth;  the  Armenians  are  some- 
times called  the  Sons  of  Togarmah.  Togarmah  had 
a  son  named  Haig  (the  Armenian  records  tell  us),  and 
Armenians  call  themselves  Haigian  or  Haigazian  from 
him;  and  the  land  of  Armenia  is  called  Hayasdan  or 
the  land  of  Plaig.  He  was  a  powerful  warrior  and 
the  founder  of  the  Armenian  Kingdom,  which  began 
2350  B.  C,  and  ended  with  Levon  YL,  1375  A.  D.; 
thus  lasting  3725  years,  though  with  intervals  of  ex- 
tinction. Their  own  kings  did  not  always  reign  in 
Armenia;  sometimes  other  nations  ruled  over  it; 
by  way  of  compensation,  sometimes  the  Armenians 
ruled  over  other  nations.  The  people  never  call  them- 
selves Armenians,  or  their  country  Armenia ;  they  use 
the  name  simply  for  the  sake  of  foreigners.  But 
where  did  the  name  come  from  ?  Of  course  as  with 
many  very  old  ones,  the  origin  is  somewhat  a  matter 
of  guesswork.  Some  derive  it  from  the  great  King, 
Aram,  the  seventh  from  Haig;  some  from  Armerag 
or  Armen,  the  eldest  son  of  Haig, —  the  more  probable 
supposition  of  the  two;  still  others  connect  it  with  the 
Hebrew  Aram  (Aramea),  the  district  of  Mesopotamia 
and  [NTorth  Syria,  and  derive  both  from  a  word  mean- 
ing "  man,"  most  old  names  of  nations  having  meant 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ARMENIA.  41 

that  originally.  "Whatever  its  origin,  it  is  certain  that 
the  Armenians  are  a  very  ancient  nation, —  as  ancient 
as  the  Assyrians  or  Persians. 

The  people  belong  to  the  stock  formerly  known  as 
Japhetic,  later  as  Caucasian  (from  the  Caucasus  Moun- 
tains on  the  jiorth  of  Armenia),  then  as  Indo-Euro- 
pean, now  as  iVryan;  the  most  advanced  type  of  man- 
kind, and  the  most  physically  beautiful.  And  what 
are  the  people  of  the  United  States  ?  Hamitic  or 
Negroid  ?  Of  course  not.  Semitic  (Arab,  Jew)  ? 
Certainly  not.  They  are  Japhetic  or  Aryan  too  — 
exactly  the  same  as  the  Armenians.  Indeed,  the  type 
of  face  is  the  same,  and  the  type  of  character.  The 
Armenians  are  often  called  the  Anglo-Saxons  of  the 
East;  they  are  the  same  blood,  features,  religion,  and 
civilization  as  those  of  the  West,  and  are  true  brothers 
and  sisters,  though  the  opportunities  of  the  latter  have 
been  greater;"^ however,  the  ancestors  of  the  former 
were  Christians  in  Asia  before  those  of  the  latter  were 
in  Europe,  and  they  kept  the  mother  land  faithfully 
while  the  others  ran  away. 

THEIR  LANGUAGE. 

The  tongue  spoken  by  the  Armenians  is  one  of  the 
great  family  now  known  as  the  Aryan  languages;  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  oldest  of  them  if  there  is  any  dif- 
ference in  the  ages  of  the  different  branches,  though 
that  really  means  nothing.  It  has  no  relation  what- 
ever to  the  Semitic  tongues  like  Chaldee  or  Phoenician, 
nor  the  Tataric  tongues  of  Scythia,  though  those  were 


42  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

in  the  earlier  ages  its  nearest  neighbors,  while  it  is 
blood  brother  to  languages  so  widely  separated  as  Irish 
on  the  west  and  Hindoo  on  the  east,  to  Gothic  and 
Greek,  Lithuanian  and  Latin.  Linguists  think  the 
whole  Aryan  family  much  younger  than  the  Semitic 
or  the  Turko-Tataric  or  the  Mongoloid,  but  this  would 
not  be  granted  by  the  Armenians  without  much  more 
solid  proof  than  has  yet  been  brought  forward.  They 
claim  first  that  Noah  and  his  sons  lived  in  Armenia, 
which  has  been  sliown  must  be  true ;  second,  that  they 
spoke  the  Armenian  language,  which  therefore  was 
the  very  oldest.  Some  of  the  arguments  in  favor  of 
this  are  as  follows: — In  Armenia,  near  Mt.  Ararat, 
are  places  with  Armenian  names,  which  have  preserved 
the  same  names  from  the  time  of  Noah  till  now. 
North  of  Ararat  is  a  city  named  Erivan,  which  in 
Armenian  means  "appearance";  after  Noah's  ark 
rested  on  the  mountain,  the  first  place  he  saw  was  Eri- 
van. Another  city  southeast  of  Ararat  is  called 
Nakhichevan,  which  in  Armenian  means  "  the  first 
station  " ;  it  was  the  first  stopping-place  of  Noah  when 
he  came  out  of  the  ark.  The  first  chief  or  King  of 
the  Armenians,  Haig,  built  a  village  and  called  it  Hark, 
which  means  "  fathers,''  as  he  was  the  father  of  the 
Armenians;  and  when  Haig  fought  with  Belus  and 
killed  him,  the  place  was  called  Kereznank,  meaning 
"  grave  "  or  "  graves."  There  are  many  such  places 
in  Armenia,  where  the  names  have  always  been  the 
same  and  are  certainly  Armenian  now,  indicating  that 
the  language  has  always  been  the  same;  here  are  a 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  ARMENIA.  48 

few:  Arakaz,  Armavir,  Shirag,  Ararat.  The  latter 
took  its  name  from  Ara,  the  Armenian  king  who  was 
the  son  of  iVram,  that  great  King  who  ruled  in  Armenia 
for  fifty  years;  the  name  means  "  lofty  "  or  "  holy." 
These  instances  show  the  antiquity  of  the  language; 
but  even  if  they  were  not  sufficient,  it  would  not  affect 
the  antiquity  of  the  race.  Many  very  old  races  speak 
languages  much  less  old.  The  mass  of  people  in  Tus- 
cany are  Etruscans,  a  race  which  some  people  hold  to 
be  much  older  than  the  whole  Aryan  family;  but  they 
speak  Italian,  a  very  modern  tongue.  A  large  part 
of  the  Basques,  believed  by  many  scientists  to  be  the 
oldest  race  in  Europe,  older  even  than  the  Tuscans, 
speak  Spanish,  much  more  modern  even  than  Italian. 
So  that  it  does  not  follow  that  the  Armenian  race, 
aside  from  the  language,  may  not  be  the  oldest  in  the 
world. 

The  old  Armenian  classic  language  is  very  dif- 
ficult, from  the  number  of  particles  and  participles  in 
it;  but  modern  Armenian  is  one  of  the  easiest  of  lan- 
guages to  learn,  very  regular  in  inflection  and  the  spell- 
ing entirely  phonetic.  There  are  no  exceptions  or 
anomalies;  for  instance,  to  pluralize  a  noun,  you  in- 
variably add  the  particle  ner  or  er.  Thus,  doon  means 
"house;"  the  plural  is  dooner.  Manch  is  "boy"; 
plural  mancher;  mannugh  is  "-child,"  mannughner 
"  children."  The  irregularities  of  English  in  these 
forms  are  too  well-known  to  need  illustration.  The 
Armenian  tongue  is  not  only  very  regular,  but  very 
sweet,  as  well  to  the  ears  of  foreigners  as  of  natives. 


44  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

The  testimony  of  '^  Sunset ''  Cox  of  Ohio  is  worth 
citing  on  this  point.  He  was  United  States  minister 
to  Turkey  some  years  ago,  and  as  such  presided  at  the 
Commencement  Exercises  of  Robert  College  in  Con- 
stantinople, that  being  the  rule  of  the  college.  In 
his  address  on  this  occasion,  he  said  he  did  not  like 
Bulgarian  (which  is  a  Turkish  tongue),  because  it  had 
no  sweetness ; —  indeed,  there  is  none  in  any  of  the 
Turkish  languages,  which  are  strong  and  emphatic, 
but  harsh.  But  he  said  he  liked  Armenian ;  it  was  the 
"  sweetest  language  he  ever  lieai-d."  lie  went  on  to 
say  that  Adam  talked  Armenian  in  the  Garden  of 
Eden,  proposed  to  Eve  in  that  language,  and  succeeded 
in  winning  her  heart ;  in  any  other  language  he  might 
not  have  done  it.  "It  is  the  loveliest  of  tongues  to 
make  love  to  a  woman  in,  and  sure  of  success  if  the 
lady  knows  Armenian."  I  think  he  was  right;  but 
I  think  too,  that  next  to  Armenian,  if  not  equal  tait,  is 
English.  It  sounds  as  sweetly  to  my  ears  as  Armenian. 
I  am  an  Armenian  and  my  wife  is  an  Armenian;  but 
I  proposed  to  her  in  English  and  was  successful;  not 
a  sure  test,  perhaps,  for  any  language  is  beautiful  when 
words  of  love  are  uttered  in  it  to  ears  that  are  willing 
to  hear;  and  true  love  may  be  successful  without  any 
words  at  all. 


Coal  of  Arms  and  Flags  of  Ancient  Armenia. 


yV/{  /pusf  'iT/lti^^  •  •  •  •        •     J'  J.  *  'fAe  Dynasty  of  Pakr 
l^ia  lfyH,}styjiliArskiigiit\iiaii\    ,]  '^.     Tkf  Kingdom  of  Rou 


•  '.••••.■•      i 


douniun 
bin  I  an 


III. 

THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES. 

According  to  the  liistoiies  written  by  native  his- 
torians from  the  old  Armenian  records. 

1.    THE  HAIGAZIAN  DYNASTY. 

This  dynasty  began  2350  years  before  Christ,  and 
ended  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  328  B.  C. 
No  other  recorded  dynasty  has  so  long  an  unbroken 
Buccession. 

2.  THE  ARSHAGOONIAN  DYNASTY. 

This  dynasty  began  150  years  B.  C.  and  ended 
428  A.  D. 

3.  THE  PAKRADOONIAN  DYNASTY. 

This  dynasty  began  885  A.  D.  and  ended  1045 
A.  D. 

4.    THE  RUPENIAN  DYNASTY. 

This  dynasty  began  1080  A.  D.  and  ended  1375 
A.  D. 

I  shall  try  to  show  the  condition  of  the  Armenians 

under  the  rule  of  these  different  dynasties. 

(45) 


46  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

1.    THE  HAIGAZIAN  DYNASTY. 

As  already  mentioned,  Haig  \ras  the  founder  of 
the  Armenian  kingdom.  He  can  scarcely  be  called  a 
king,  because  in  his  time  there  was  not  a  great  Armen- 
ian nation;  it  was  rather  a  tribe,  and  Haig  was  chief 
or  governor.  His  position  was  like  that  of  Abraham; 
what  would  now  be  called  a  sheikh ;  and  like  Abraham, 
he  was  a  worshiper  of  the  true  God. 

Haig  went  from  the  highlands  of  Armenia  to  the 
plains  of  Shinar  to  help  build  the  Tower  of  Babel. 
During  the  progress  of  the  work,  Belus,  a  warlike  giant, 
descended  from  Ham,  assumed  to  direct  the  enter- 
prise; Haig  would  not  submit  to  this,  and  so  returned 
to  his  own  country.  When  the  undertaking  failed, 
all  the  tribes  became  scattered.  To  wreak  vengeance 
on  Haig,  Belus  resolved  to  go  to  Armenia,  kill  him  in 
fight,  and  reign  over  his  land.  When  he  reached 
Armenia  with  his  men  on  his  errand,  Haig  went  with 
a  force  to  meet  him ;  a  great  battle  took  place  and  Haig 
was  victorious,  killing  Belus  and  saving  his  country 
from  being  overwhelmed  by  the  Hamites.  His  spirit 
was  inheritedjby  his  posterity,  though  recent  irresist- 
ible force  and  refusal  of  permission  to  bear  arms  may 
seem  to  make  them  submissive.  They  have  battled 
stoutly  against  awful  odds  and  with  insufficient  means 
for  liberty  and  for  freedom  of  thought  and  conscience ; 
and  millions  have  lost  their  lives  for  those  principles; 
if  they  could  now  have  arms  and  help,  they  would  fight 
and  die  again  for  them. 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  47 

After  the  repulse  of  this  Hamitic  invasion,  the 
Armenians  increased  so  rapidly  that  Haig  became  a 
real  king  and  took  that  title,  thus  actually  founding 
the  Armenian  Kingship.  They  were  free,  lived  long 
jives,  and  married  only  one  wife  each, —  all  favorable 
conditions  for  growth  of  population, —  it  need  not  be 
pointed  out  how  slavery  and  polygamy  check  national 
growtib  And  they  kept  their  faith  in  the  one  true 
God,  as  their  ancestor  Noah  did. 

Haig's  son  Armen  succeeded  his  father,  and 
greatly  enlarged  the  kingdom.  He  subdued  a  large 
district  northeast  of  Mt.  Ararat  and  built  cities  and 
towns  there.  It  is  most  likely  the  name  Armenia 
comes  from  him.  Some  recent  foreign  writers  have 
the  impudence  to  say  that  there  was  no  such  king,  but 
that  his  name  was  made  up  to  account  for  that  of 
Armenia;  but  the  same  records  wdiich  tell  us  of  Haig, 
tell  us  of  his  son.  After  Armen  we  find  his  son  Arma- 
iss,  w^ho  built  the  city  of  Armavir. 

I  will  not  enumerate  all  the  names  of  the  dynasty; 
it  would  only  be  a  tedious  catalogue  without  profit. 
T  will  only  mention  the  most  noted  ones,  and  those 
most  interesting  from  their  relations  with  the  Jews 
or  the  heathen  nations. 

One  of  the  notable  kings  is  Aram,  the  seventh  in 
succession,  and  the  greatest  of  Armenian  conquerors. 
He  raised  and  drilled  an  army  of  50,000  men,  whose 
efficiency  and  his  own  military  skill  and  energy  are 
proved  by  his  invading  and  conquering  Media.  He 
then  invaded  Assyria  and  conquered  a  part  of  that 


48  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

country.  Next  he  marched  westward  and  subjugated 
some  of  the  eastern  portion  of  Asia  Minor  inhabited  by 
the  Greeks, —  the  later  Cappadocia,  along  the  Halys 
or  Kizil-Irmak.  Aram  named  this  district  the  Hayas- 
dan,  translated  by  the  Komans  as  "  Armenia  Minor  "; 
which,  oddly  enough,  in  later  times  became  Greater 
Armenia  or  Armenia  Proper.  Aram  set  over  this 
province  a  governor  named  Mishag,  with  instructions 
to  compel  the  Greeks  to  speak  Armenian.  Mishag 
built  a  city  which  exists  in  Cappadocia  (Karamania) 
to-day,  frightfully  familiar  from  recent  events.  He 
called  it  by  his  own  name;  the  Greeks  mispronounced 
it  as  Mazag;  the  Roman  emperors  afterwards  named 
it  Caesarea,  which  the  Turks  corrupted  into  Kayseri, 
and  several  thousand  Armenians  were  massacred  there 
some  months  ago,  which  will  be  described  further  on. 
Th^  richest  and  most  enterprising  Armenians  in  the 
Turkish  Empire  are  from  Kayseri,  and  it  is  a  leading 
missionary  station  of  the  American  Board.  The 
writer  preached  there  and  in  that  vicinity  for  four 
years. 

The  enormous  growth  of  the  Armenian  Kingdom 
under  Aram,  and  its  conquest  of  part  of  Assyria, 
excited  the  alarm  of  the  Assyrian  king,  Ninos.  ^ot 
feeling  strong  enough  to  engage  in  open  warfare  with 
him,  he  thought  to  compass  his  destruction  by  winning 
his  friendship  and  then  putting  him  out  of  the  way, 
and,  as  a  first  step,  sent  him  a  costly  jeweled  crown. 
The  intrigue  failed,  however,  and  Aram  lived  to  a 
great  age,  reigning  fift;y  years. 


•       *  i 
» » 1 1 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  49 

Aram  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Ara,  called  "  Ara 
theJBeautiful."  The  fame  of  his  beauty  went  abroad 
through  the  world;  the  Assyrian  queen  Semiramis 
was  so  enchanted  by  the  sight  of  his  person  that  she 
fell  madly  in  love  and  proposed  marriage  to  him,  but 
he  refused  her.  This  military  Amazon  was  not  to 
be  balked  so.  She  resolved  to  marry  him  by  force, 
and  came  with  a  great  army  to  Armenia  to  capture 
the  prize;  but  he  was  killed  in  the  war,  and  she  took 
possession  of  the  country,  with  which  she  was  so 
charmed  that  she  decided  to  remain;  she  removed  the 
capital  of  the  enlarged  Assyrian  Kingdom  to  the  lovely 
shores  of  Lake  Van,  erecting  a  palace  there  for  her- 
self, and  building  on  the  eastern  side  a  city  named 
"  Shamiramaguerd  "  (built  by  Semiramis).  Many 
years  later,  a  king  of  the  Haigazian  Dynasty  whose 
name  was  Van  rebuilt  it  and  called  it  after  himself. 
This  was  the  present  city  of  Van,  another  great  center 
of  the  American  Board  and  of  Turkish  horrors. 

The  next  great  interesting  event  was  in  710  B.  C. 
when  Sennacherib  of  Assyria  was  assassinated  by  his 
two  sons,  Adramelich  and  Sharezer,  who  escaped  into 
Armenia.  The  king  of  Armenia  at  this  time  was 
Sgayorti,  which  means  "  son  of  a  giant."  He  received 
the  sons  of  Sennacherib  with  great  kindness;  they 
married  Armenian  women,  and  remained  in  the  coun- 
try till  their  death.  Their  descendants  were  great 
Armenian  princes,  bearing  the  titles  Prince  Arziroo- 
nian  and  Prince  Kinoonian. 

Armenia  comes  to  view  again  in  connection  with 
4 


50  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Biblical  history  in  tlie  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  N^ebu- 
cliadnezzar,  600  B.  C,  and  the  deportation  of  the 
Judean  people;  the  Armenian  king,  Hurachia,  was 
one  of  his  allies  in  the  siege,  and  on  returning  to 
Armenia  carried  with  him  a  Hebrew  prince  named 
Shampad.  This  was  a  very  intelligent  man,  and  made 
himself  greatly  loved  and  esteemed  by  the  Armenians; 
a  sort  of  Daniel  or  Joseph.  He,  too,  married  an  Ar- 
menian noblewoman,  and  his  descendants  became  the 
very  foremost  of  the  noble  families  and  ecclesiastical 
functionaries  of  the  country,  crowning  the  kings  on 
occasion.  They  were  called  Pakradoonian  Princes, 
and  at  last  one  of  them  founded  the  third  dynasty 
of  Armenian  kings,  the  Pakradoonian.  Though  the 
nation  is  Aryan,  there  is  noble  Hebrew  (Semitic)  blood 
mixed  with  it. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  Haigaz- 
ian  Dynasty  comes  just  before  the  end;  the  time  of 
Dikran  or  Tigranes  I.  In  him  both  wisdom  and 
valor  were  combined  to  an  eminent  degree.  As  soon 
as  he  succeeded  his  father,  Yerevant,  he  instituted 
great  reforms  to  improve  the  state  of  the  country.  He 
not  only  enlarged  it  by  conquest,  but  he  greatly  im- 
proved public  education  and  morals,  removed  obstruc- 
tions to  international  commerce,  introduced  naviga- 
tion on  the  lakes  and  rivers,  encouraged  cultivation; 
trade  flourished,  every  acre  of  ground  was  tilled,  the 
country  was  alive  with  energy  and  hope.  This  vigor 
and  prosperity  aroused  the  envy  of  Ashdahag,  King 
of  Media;  he  resolved  to  kill  Dikran,  and  to  throw 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  51 

him  off  his  guard  married  his  sister,  Princess  Dik- 
raiioohi.  A  plot  to  murder  Dikran  was  then  set  on 
foot;  the  princess  learned  of  it,  warned  her  brother, 
whom  she  loved,  and  ran  away.  Dikran  collected  an 
army,  made  a  rapid  march  to  Media,  surprised  and 
slew  Ashdahag,  and  brought  back  a  vast  amount  of 
spoils  in  captives  and  goods.  He  built  a  fine  city  on 
the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  and  called  it  Dikranagerd,  the 
city  of  Dikran;  it  was  afterwards  the  residence  of  the 
sister  who  had  saved  his  life.  It  is  now  called  by  the 
Turks  Diarbekr,  and  was  the  scene  of  a  frightful  mas- 
sacre a  few  months  since.  The  most  important  politi- 
cal achievement  of  his  life  was  assisting  Cyrus  in  the 
capture  of  Babylon  538  B.  C;  the  two  monarchs 
were  very  friendly,  and  Dikran's  Armenian  army  was 
a  chief  factor  in  the  conquest.  In  Jeremiah^s  proph- 
ecy of  the  capture,  about  a  century  before  it  occurred, 
he  mentions  the  Armenian  Kingdom  as  one  of  the 
actors :  "  The  Kingdoms  of  Ararat,  Minni,  and  Ash- 
chenaz."  (Jer.  li.  27.) 

After  Dikran's  death  his  son  Vahakn  succeeded 
him;  he  was  considered  a  god  by  the  people,  and  wor- 
shiped as  such  through  a  monument  after  his  death. 
Thus  far  the  people  had  mostly  worshiped  the  one  true 
God,  but  from  this  time  they  relapsed  into  heathenism 
for  a  while  on  account  of  the  influences  pressing  on 
them  from  outside.  The  last  king  of  the  Haigazian 
Dynasty  was  Vahe.  When  Alexander  the  Great  in- 
vaded Persia,  Vahe  went  to  Darius'  help  with  40,000 
infantry  and  7,000  cavalry ;  but  Alexander  conquered 


52  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

first  Darius  and  then  Valie  (328  B.  C),  and  annexed 
both  Persia  and  Armenia.  Thus  came  to  an  end  the 
first  Armenian  dynasty,  after  an  existence  of  1922 
years. 

ARSHAGOONIAN  OR  ARSACID  DYNASTY. 

This  dynasty  began  not  far  from  150  B.  C, — 
close  to  the  time  when  Carthage  was  utterly  destroyed, 
and  Greece  was  finally  subjugated;  it  ended  428  A.  D., 
about  half  a  century  before  the  extinction  of  the  West- 
ern Roman  Empire,  and  about  the  time  Genseric  and 
his  Yandals  conquered  Africa.  It  is  by  far  the  most 
famous  of  the  Armenian  royal  houses ;  for  it  embraces 
the  very  heart  of  the  classic  times  with  which  all  ed- 
ucated people  are  familiar,  it  brings  us  perpetually  in 
contact  with  the  most  brilliant  and  best-known  of 
classic  names,  it  is  sprinkled  itself  with  names  tower- 
ing up  familiar  and  powerful,  even  among  the  Greek 
and  Roman  magnates;  and,  in  spite  of  political  ups  and 
downs,  it  covers  a  time  of  immense  expansion  for  the 
Armenian  people,  of  a  firmly  rooted  growth  in  num- 
bers, wealth,  and  consciousness  of  national  unity, 
which  has  enabled  the  nation  to  survive  and  keep  its 
united  being  through  many  centuries  of  dismember- 
ment, impoverishment,  massacre,  and  attempts  at  out- 
right extermination  again  and  again.  More  than  all, 
it  covers  the  time  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  conversion 
of  Armenia  to  his  religion,  first  of  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth,  as  by  its  history  and  traditions  it  ought  to 
have  been. 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  53 

During  the  time  between  the  disappearance  of 
the  line  of  Ilaig  and  the  rise  of  the  line  of  Arshag, 
Armenia  was  not  by  any  means  wholly  without  kings 
of  its  own ;  but  it  was  mostly  a  dependency. 

Alexander  the  Great,  after  his  conquest,  put  a 
native  governor  named  Mihran  over  it;  but  on  Alex- 
ander's death,  five  years  later  (323  B.  C),  his  generals 
partitioned  the  Macedonian  Empire  among  themselves, 
and  Armenia  fell  to  ^N'eoptolemus.  His  government 
was  at  once  so  oppressive,  and  so  contemptuous  of 
native  feeling  (he  and  his  court  were  Greeks,  and  de- 
spised all  Asiatics),  that  the  people  rose  and  drove  him 
out  in  317,  under  the  lead  of  one  Arduat  (Ardvates), 
who  remained  their  king  for  thirty-three  years;  but 
he  left  no  successor,  and  Armenia  was  conquered  by 
and  became  part  of  the  great  Syrian  Empire  founded 
by  Seleucus.  It  remained  so  in  the  main  for  about 
three  quarters  of  a  century,  though  the  eastern  part 
(Kurdistan),  fell  under  the  Parthian  kings.  Armenia 
was  never  a  very  quiet  province,  however,  and  its  re- 
volts against  the  Syrian  satraps  kept  it  much  of  the 
time  in  a  half-anarchic  state.  About  210  B.  C.  An- 
tiochus  the  Great  quelled  one  of  these  uprisings,  and 
divided  the  country  into  Greater  and  Lesser  Armenia 
(whose  boundaries  I  have  described),  putting  a  separate 
deputy  over  each.  But  after  his  crushing  defeat  by 
the  Romans  at  Magnesia  in  180  B.  C,  and  having  to 
buy  peace  by  giving  up  everything  beyond  the  Halys, 
each  governor  proclaimed  his  province  an  independ- 
ent kingdom.     Zadriades  (Zadreh),  in  Lesser  Armenia 


54  ARJ^IENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

founded  a  family  which  kept  their  hold  for  almost 
exactly  a  century,  when  Tigranes  II  once  more  united 
the  two  Armenias.  Artaxias  (Ardashes),  in  Greater 
Armenia  was  powerful  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  sheltered 
Hannibal  at  his  court  when  the  Romans  had  set  a 
price  on  the  head  of  their  great  foe;  but  about  the 
middle  of  the  century  his  family  was  dispossessed  by 
Mithridates  of  Parthia,  who  conquered  the  country. 
The  family  name  of  this  Parthian  house  was  Arshag, 
rendered  by  the  Greeks  Arsakes,  spelled  by  the  Ro- 
mans Arsaces.  Mithridates  made  Greater  Armenia 
a  kingdom  for  his  brother  Wagh-arshag  (Yal-arsaces), 
whose  family  remained  in  succession  to  the  throne, 
though  sometimes  eclipsed  for  long  periods  from  actual 
occupation  of  it,  for  six  hundred  years.  The  new  king 
had  the  great  hereditary  ability  both  in  war  and  states- 
manship which  characterized  the  whole  Arsacid  line, 
and  the  Mithridates  in  particular,  and  its  great  knowl- 
edge of  men.  He  knew  an  able  man  when  he  saw 
him,  and  liked  to  raise  him  up;  he  promoted  industry 
and  built  cities;  he  reformed  the  system  of  laws  and 
their  administration  as  well. 

The  new  line  did  not  escape  the  usual  fate  of 
Eastern  dynasties,  of  having  disputes  over  the  succes- 
sion, in  which  their  neighbors  interfered.  In  94  B. 
C,  Dikran  or  Tigranes  II  (great-grandson  of  Wagh- 
Arshag),  owed  his  possession  of  the  throne  of  Greater 
Armenia  to  his  third  cousin,  Mithridates  II  (the 
Great),  of  Parthia,  who  exacted  seventy  Armenian 
valleys  as  the  price;  probably  part  of  Kurdistan.     Ti- 


THE  ARMENIAN  nVNASTIES.  55 

granes,  however,  paid  no  more  blood-money  to  any- 
body when  once  on  the  throne.  On  the  contrary,  he 
began  at  once  to  overrun  and  annex  the  neighboring 
states.  He  first  conquered  Lesser  Armenia,  and  made 
it  one  with  its  sister  again ;  then  part  of  Syria,  so  long 
the  mistress  of  his  own  state;  then,  in  a  series  of  wars 
with  the  weak  successors  of  Mithridates,  he  half  de- 
stroyed the  Parthian  Empire  itself,  not  only  recovering 
the  seventy  valleys  he  had  paid  for  his  throne,  but  con- 
quering Media,  and  annexing  Mesopotamia  and  Adia- 
bene.  After  these  conquests  he  called  himself  "  King 
of  Kings  "  (that  is,  emperor,  king  with  other  kings 
under  him),  which  title  the  Parthian  kings  had 
claimed  theretofore.  He  would  probably  have  ended 
by  mastering  and  restoring  the  unity  of  the  old  Seleu- 
cid  Kingdom  in  its  widest  extent,  the  whole  heart  of 
Western  Asia,  had  he  not  in  an  evil  hour  been  in- 
duced by  that  reckless  old  fighter,  his  father-in-law, 
Mithridates  of  Pontus,  to  join  him  in  war  against  the 
Romans.  Tigranes'  own  son  had  quarreled  with  him, 
and  taken  refuge  with  the  King  of  Parthia,  whose 
daughter  he  married;  and  now  offered  to  guide  his 
father-in-law  into  Armenia  if  he  would  invade  it  as  the 
ally  of  the  Romans.  This  was  done,  and  Tigranes 
the  elder  had  to  fly  to  the  mountains;  but  the  Parthian 
king  grew  tired  of  the  siege  of  rock  castles,  and  went 
home,  leaving  his  son-in-law  to  carry  on  operations  with 
part  of  the  army.  The  great  Armenian  king  at  once 
broke  loose  and  annihilated  the  forces  of  his  son,  who 
fled  to  Pompey,  just  invading  Armenia  with  the  Ro- 


/ 

•     / 

^e  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

man  army.  Even  the  great  Tigranes  was  no  match  for 
Eome,  and  had  to  surrender.  Pompey  was  not  harsh 
with  him,  but  left  him  Armenia  (except  Sophene  and 
Gordjene,  which  were  made  into  a  kingdom  for  his 
son),  and  his  Parthian  conquests;  even  going  so  far 
as  to  send  a  Roman  division  to  wrest  these  from  the 
Parthian  king,  who  had  re-conquered  them  on  Ti- 
granes' defeat,  and  restore  them  to  the  latter.  On  the 
departure  of  Pompey  the  Parthian  once  more  re- 
claimed them,  but  a  compromise  was  finally  made. 
Phraates  of  Parthia,  however,  resumed  once  more  the 
title  of  "  King  of  Kings.''  Tigranes  remained  the 
ally  of  the  Romans  till  his  death  in  55  B.  C. ;  a  reign 
of  thirty-nine  years,  on  the  whole  of  great  glory  and 
usefulness. 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Artavasdes  ( Ardvash) 
II,  who  inherited  that  most  dreadful  of  legacies,  a 
place  between  the  hammer  and  the  anvil.  For  the 
next  quarter  of  a  century  the  Romans,  and  the  steadily 
growing  and  consolidating  power  of  the  Parthian  Em- 
pire were  alternately  irresistible  in  Eastern  Anatolia; 
it  was  impossible  to  avoid  taking  sides,  for  neutrality 
meant  invasion  by  one  party  or  the  other;  and  which- 
ever side  he  took  he  was  sure  to  be  punished  for  as  soon 
as  the  other  came  uppermost.  If  Artavasdes  had  been 
as  dexterous  as  Alexius  Comnenus  himself,  he  could 
hardly  have  escaped  ruin ;  that  he  kept  his  throne  for 
over  twenty  years  is  proof  that  he  was  not  unworthy  of 
his  father.  First  came  the  invasion  of  Parthia  by 
Crassus;  Artavasdes,  faithful  to  his  father's  Roman 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  57 

allegiance;  asked  him  to  make  the  invasion  by 
way  of  Armenia,  and  offered  to  help  him.  Crassus 
refused,  but  the  Parthian  king,  Orodes,  invaded  Ar- 
menia; however,  he  made  peace,  and  betrothed  his 
eldest  son,  Pacorus,  to  Artavasdes*  daughter,  just  be- 
fore new^s  was  brought  him  of  the  annihilation  of 
Crassus^  army,  guaranteed  by  Crassus'  severed  head 
and  hand.  The  civil  wars  at  Rome  for  years  to  come 
broke  the  Roman  power,  and  the  Parthians  (with  the 
good-will  of  the  inhabitants,  who  detested  the  Roman 
proconsuls),  swept  w^estward,  compelled  submission  or 
alliance  from  all  the  countries  to  the  Taurus,  and  even 
annexed  all  Syria  for  a  time,  just  as  seven  centuries 
later  the  Syrians,  from  hate  of  the  Byzantine  gover- 
nors, gave  up  their  cities  to  the  Saracens.  But  the 
Roman  power  once  more  rallied;  the  Parthians  were 
driven  out  of  Syria,  and  Pacorus  was  killed ;  the  aged 
Orodes,  under  whom  the  Parthian  Empire  proper 
reached  its  pinnacle,  died,  leaving  the  throne  to 
one  of  those  jealous  murderous  despots  so  familiar 
in  Eastern  history,  who  made  a  general  slaughter  of 
his  brothers,  and  even  murdered  his  son,  to  remove 
any  possible  leader  of  a  revolt,  and  Artavasdes  once 
more  returned  to  the  Roman  alliance.  In  the  year 
36  A.  D.,  Mark  Antony  undertook  the  task  Crassus 
had  so  terribly  failed  in  seventeen  years  before,  of 
striking  at  the  heart  of  Parthia;  but  this  time  the  in- 
vasion was  by  way  of  Armenia.  It  was  almost  as 
frightful  a  disaster  as  the  former;  a  third  of  the  army 
of  100,000  men  was  destroyed  by  the  enemy,  8,000 


58  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

died  of  cold  and  storm  in  the  Armenian  mountains, 
the  wounded  died  in  enormous  numbers;  but  that  Ar- 
tavasdes  let  the  army  winter  in  his  country  it  would 
have  perished  as  completely  as  Crassus'  did.  In  spite 
of  this,  the  Romans,  wanting  a  scapegoat,  laid  the 
whole  blame  on  Artavasdes,  without  a  shadow  of  rea- 
son that  can  be  shown.  It  was  the  last  time  for  a 
century  and  a  half  that  the  Romans  attacked  Parthia. 
In  default  of  that  plunder,  they  resolved  to  have  Ar- 
menia, and  a  couple  of  years  later,  in  the  year  33  A.  D., 
they  seized  Artavasdes  by  treachery,  and  occupied  the 
country.  The  Parthians  at  once  took  up  the  cause 
of  his  son,  Artaxes,  and  made  war  on  the  Romans 
to  seat  him  on  the  throne ;  and  when  the  Roman  troops 
were  withdrawn  to  help  Antony's  cause,  which  was  lost 
in  the  battle  of  Actium,  the  Parthians  overran  Ar- 
menia, and  killed  all  the  Romans  in  the  country,  and 
made  their  candidate  king  as  Artaxes  II.  This  was 
in  30  B.  C,  and  in  the  same  year  his  father,  Artavas- 
des, who  had  been  carried  to  Alexandria  by  An- 
tony, was  beheaded  by  Cleopatra.  But  the  very  next 
year  the  worthless  tyrant  Phraates  of  Parthia  was 
driven  from  the  throne  by  a  rebellion,  and  Artaxes 
made  peace  with  Rome. 

The  history  of  Artavasdes'  reign  is  in  essence  the 
history  of  the  next  four  centuries,  save  that  the  results 
were  incomparably  worse.  We  have  been  dealing 
with  a  time  at  least  of  steady,  single-handed  govern- 
ment, of  able  rulers  either  inside  or  outside,  of  some 
sort  of  ability  to  keep  the  civil  structure  of  the  coun- 

/ 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  59 

try  from  breaking  to  pieces;  but  even  that  disappears 
over  long  periods  in  the  early  centuries  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  One  great  secret  of  Armenia's  misery  dur- 
ing these  ages  of  woe  —  indeed,  to  a  large  extent  dur- 
ing all  the  ages  since  —  lies  in  the  fact  that  she  is  a 
borderland;  a  buffer  between  great  states,  and  indeed 
between  great  natural  divisions  of  climate  and  society.  ' 
She  is  the  boundary  between  semi-tropic  Central 
Asia  and  temperate  Eastern  Europe,  touching  the 
land  of  the  fig  and  the  silk-worm  on  the  one 
side,  and  that  of  the  apple  and  the  mountain 
goat  on  the  other;  between  Scythian  steppes  and 
Syrian  deserts.  In  these  earlier  ages  she  was 
fought  for  between  east,  west,  and  south, —  Par- 
tliia,  Eome,  and  a  Syro-Egyptian  power  of  some 
sort;  in  these  days  divided  between  east,  west,  and 
north, —  Persia  the  successor  of  Parthia,  Turkey  the 
successor  of  Rome,  while  the  southern  power  is  ages 
dead,  and  a  great  northern  power,  Russia,  has  grown 
up  in  the  steppes.  Had  Armenia  been  smaller,  or 
more  level,  she  would  have  perished  without  a  strug- 
gle, perhaps  rather  would  never  have  existed ;  but  her 
territory  is  so  large  and  so  defensible  that  her  history 
could  have  been  predicted, —  final  dismemberment  be- 
tween great  states  surrounding  her,  yet  not  without 
ages  of  desperate  struggle.  She  was  not  large  enough 
to  be  permanently  the  seat  of  empire;  she  was  far  too 
large  for  either  rival  to  let  pass  wholly  into  the  hands 
of  the  other  —  so  she  was  pulled  to  pieces.     But  she 


60  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

wanted  to  control  her  own  destiny,  and  made  a  long  and 
heroic  fight  before  being  dismembered. 

To  write  the  history  of  the  next  few  centuries 
would  tire  out  all  my  readers,  and  would  not  do  any 
good;  it  was  a  long  duel  between  Rome  and  Persia 
for  the  ownership  of  Armenia,  in  which  the  prosperity 
and  happiness  of  their  unhappy  foot-ball  nearly  per- 
ished. Almost  the  whole  foreign  policy  of  Parthia 
was  to  control,  or  to  have  a  paramount  influence  in 
Armenia;  almost  the  whole  foreign  policy  of  Rome  in 
tlie  East  was  to  do  the  same  thing.  For  nearly  a 
century  following  Artavasdes'  deposition,  though  the 
Romans  professed  to  govern  the  country  and  the 
Parthians  sometimes  held  it,  and  both  sides  repeatedly 
put  kings  on  its  throne,  it  was  actually  in  a  state  of  pure 
anarchy.  Every  great  family,  seeing  it  must  depend 
on  its  own  strength  for  preservation,  extended  its  rule 
over  as  wide  a  district  as  would  submit;  nearly  two 
hundred  houses  acted  with  perfect  independence  of 
each  other,  and  of  the  nominal  government,  and  some 
of  them  established  principalities  of  considerable  size. 
After  this,  though  the  country  was  for  century  after 
century  just  the  same  shuttlecock  between  the  rival 
states,  the  feudal  anarchy  was  somewhat  reduced,  the 
turbulent  nobility  better  held  in  check,  but  it  was  im- 
possible that  there  should  be  really  firm  and  orderly 
government  w^hen  a  king  could  not  be  secure  of  his 
throne  for  a  year  on  one  side  or  the  other,  and  dared 
not  render  his  powerful  subjects  disaffected  by  making 
them  obey  the  laws.     We  may  be  sure  that  the  gov- 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  61 

ernment  was  really  an  oligarchy  under  the  forms  of 
a  monarchy,  and  even  the  title  '^  King  of  Armenia  " 
during  this  period  must  not  be  taken  to  mean  too  much. 
There  were  sometimes  separate  kings  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Armenia,  one  under  Roman,  and  one  under 
Parthian  influence;  the  independent  princes  often 
made  head  against  both,  and  outlying  principalities, 
like  those  of  Osrhoene  and  Gordyene  probably  got 
hold  of  more  or  less  Armenian  territory  in  the  melee. 
No  king  of  Armenia  after  Tigranes  ever  held  sway 
over  all  of  old  Armenia  for  any  length  of  time,  if  at 
all.  But  any  king  who  got  an  acknowledged  position 
at  all  was  invariably  an  Arshagoonian ;  the  people  con- 
sidered that  line  the  only  rightful  kings.  Artavasdes 
III,  whom  the  Romans  seated  in  power  just  before  the 
birth  of  Christ;  Tigranes  IV,  who  expelled  him  by 
Parthian  aid  the  year  of  Christ's  birth;  Vonones, 
a  deposed  Parthian  king,  who  got  himself  chosen  king 
as  the  Roman  favorite  in  16  A.  D.,  but  was  persuaded 
by  Tiberius  to  retire;  Arsaces,  son  of  the  king  of  Par- 
thia,  assassinated  by  the  king  of  Iberia  whose  brother 
was  the  Roman  candidate,  about  the  time  of  the 
crucifixion;  Ervand,  who  made  himself  master  of  tHe 
land  after  a  fashion,  in  58;  Dertad  (Tiridates), 
set  up  by  the  Parthians  in  52,  and  acknowledged  by 
the  Romans  in  66;  Exedarus  (Eshdir  ?)  son  of  the 
Parthian  king,  given  the  throne  with  Roman  consent 
about  100,  pulled  down  by  his  uncle  in  114,  resulting  in 
the  conquest  of  the  country  by  Trajan ;  Sohaemus,  set 
up  by  the  Romans  about  150,  dethroned  by  the  Par- 


62  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

thians  in  162  in  favor  of  another  Arsacid,  restored  by 
the  Romans  in  164;  and  the  other  fleeting  monarchs 
of  this  long  nightmare  were  all  of  the  same  line  of 
Arshag,  which  in  Armenia  survived  for  over  two 
centuries  its  brother  line  in  Parthia,  the  last  of  whom, 
Ardvan  (Artabanus),  was  slain  in  battle  in  224  by  Ar- 
dashir  (Artaxerxes),  first  of  the  Sassanian  house,  and 
founder  of  the  Persian  Empire.  But  I  must  go  back 
a  little. 

The  most  important  event  in  the  history  of  any  na- 
tion is  its  conversion  to  Christianity,  and  therefore  we 
wish  to  know  when  the  Armenians  first  came  to  believe 
in  Christ,  and  how  it  came  about.  Of  course  it  did 
not  come  all  at  once;  but  it  came  very  early,  and  the 
story  of  the  first  converts  is  very  curious.  According 
to  the  Armenian  church  history,  and  also  the  great 
Christian  father  Eusebius,  it  came  through  King  Ab- 
gar  or  Apkar  (Abgarus),  the  fifteenth  king  of  the  little 
kingdom  of  Osrhoene,  in  northern  Mesopotamia,  whose 
capital  was  the  flourishing  city  of  Edessa,  now  Oorfa; 
it  lay  next  the  southern  border  of  Armenia. 

The  church  history  gives  the  following  account: 

"  The  origin  of  Christianity  in  Armenia  dates 
from  the  time  of  its  king  Abgar,  who  reigned  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era;  he  had  his  seat  of  gov- 
ernment in  the  city  of  Edessa,  and  was  tributary  to  the 
Romans. 

"  Herod  Antipas,  the  tetrarch  of  Judea,  was  hostile 
to  king  Abgar,  but  was  unable  to  injure  him  except  by 
exciting  the  Romans  against  him.  He  therefore  ac- 
cused him  falsely,  to  the  Emperor  Tiberius,  of  rebel- 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  68 

lious  projects.  King  Abgar,  on  being  made  ac- 
quainted with  this  accusation,  hastened  to  send  mes- 
sengers to  the  Roman  general  Marinus,  then  governor 
of  Syria,  Phoenicia,  and  Palestine,  for  the  purpose  of 
vindicating  himself.  During  their  stay  in  Palestine 
these  messengers  —  among  whom  was  Anane,  Ab- 
gar's  confidant  —  hearing  of  the  wonders  that  were 
wrought  by  our  Saviour,  determined  to  visit  Jerusa- 
lem, in  order  to  gratify  their  curiosity. 

"  When,  therefore,  their  mission  was  concluded, 
they  proceeded  thither  and  were  filled  with  wonder  at 
witnessing  the  miracles  performed  by  Jesus  our  Lord. 

"  On  returning  to  Armenia  they  related  all  the  par- 
ticulars to  their  master.  Abgar,  after  having  listened 
to  their  narrative,  became  satisfied  that  Jesus  was  the 
son  of  God,  and  immediately  wrote  to  him  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  '  Abgar,  son  of  Arsham,  to  Jesus,  the  great 
healer,  who  has  appeared  in  the  country  of  Judea  at 
the  city  of  Jerusalem  —  greeting  Lord, —  I  have  heard 
that  thou  dost  not  heal  by  medicines  but  only  through 
the  Word ;  that  thou  makest  the  blind  to  see,  the  lame 
to  walk ;  that  thou  cleansest  the  lepers  and  makest  the 
deaf  to  hear;  that  thou  castest  out  devils,  raiseth  the 
dead,  and  healest  through  the  word  only.  iN"©  sooner 
had  the  great  miracles  that  thou  performest  been  re- 
lated to  me,  than  I  reflected,  and  now  believe  that  thou 
art  God  and  the  son  of  God,  descended  from  heaven 
to  perform  these  acts  of  beneficence.  For  this  reason 
I  have  written  thee  this  letter,  to  pray  thee  to  come 
to  me,  that  I  may  adore  thee  and  be  healed  of  my 
sickness  by  thee,  according  to  my  faith  in  thy  power. 
Moreover,  T  have  heard  that  the  Jews  murmur  against 
thee,  and  seek  to  slay  thee.  T  pray  thee,  therefore, 
come  to  me ;  I  have  a  good  little  city,  which  is  enough 


64  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

for  both  of  us,  and  there  we  can  peaceably  live  to- 
gether.' " 

The  messengers  sent  with  the  letter  were  instructed 
to  offer  sacrifices  for  the  King  at  the  temple  in  Jerusa- 
lem ;  and  one  of  them  was  a  painter,  who  was  to  make 
a  portrait  of  the  Saviour,  that  if  he  would  not  come, 
the  king  might  at  least  have  his  features.  Jesus  re- 
ceived the  letter  joyfully, —  as  it  was  the  day  of  liis 
triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem,  the  messengers  did 
not  venture  to  approach  him,  and  it  was  taken  to  him 
by  the  apostles  Philip  and  Andrew, —  and  dictated  the 
following  answer  to  the  apostle  Thomas: 

"  Blessed  be  he  who  believes  in  me  without  having 
seen  me;  for  thus  it  is  written  of  me:  Those  who  see 
me  shall  not  believe  in  me;  and  those  who  do  not  see 
me,  they  shall  believe  and  be  saved.  Inasmuch  as 
you  have  written  to  me  to  go  to  you,  know  that  it  is 
necessary  I  should  fulfill  here  all  for  which  I 
have  been  sent.  And  when  I  shall  have  done  so,  I 
shall  ascend  to  Him  who  sent  me ;  and  then  I  will  send 
you  one  of  my  disciples,  who  shall  remove  your  pain, 
and  shall  give  life  to  you  and  those  around  you." 

The  painter  could  not  execute  his  order  on  account 
of  the  multitude;  the  Saviour  at  last  noticed  him,  and 
causing  him  to  approach,  passed  a  handkerchief  over 
his  face  and  miraculously  imprinted  on  it  a  perfect  like- 
ness of  his  countenance,  and  then  gave  it  to  him,  and 
bade  him  take  it  to  his  master  as  a  reward  for  his 
faith.     The  king  received  the  letter  and  portrait  with 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  65 

great  joy,  and  put  them  in  safe  custody,  and  awaited 
the  fulfillment  of  our  Lord's  promise. 

After  the  Ascension,  Thomas,  the  disciple,  sent 
Thaddeus,  one  of  the  seventy,  to  Abgar,  as  our  Lord 
had  directed.  Thaddeus  went  to  Tobias,  a  prince  of 
the  Pakradoonian  tribe,  and  consequently  a  Jew  by 
blood,  who  received  the  apostle  into  his  house,  and  be- 
came a  believer.  Thaddeus  then  began  to  perform 
many  miracles  upon  sick  people,  and  his  fame  being 
spread  throughout  the  city,  reached  King  Abgar,  who 
sent  for  Prince  Tobias  and  desired  him  to  bring  the 
apostle  to  him.  This  was  done,  and  Thaddeus  healed 
the  king  in  his  sickness,  and  instructed  him  in  the 
faith.  He  did  likewise  to  all  the  people  of  the  city, 
and  baptized  them,  together  with  the  king  and  his 
court.  All  the  temples  dedicated  to  idols  were  shut 
up,  and  a  large  church  was  built.  Thaddeus  then 
created  a  bishop  to  rule  the  new  congregation,  select- 
ing a  silk-mercer,  the  king's  cap-maker,  for  that  of- 
fice, and  giving  him  the  name  of  Adde.  It  is  related 
that  upon  the  principal  gate  of  Edessa  was  the  statue  of 
a  Greek  idol,  which  all  who  entered  the  city  were 
obliged  to  reverence.  King  Abgar  ordered  this  to  be 
taken  away,  and  placed  in  its  stead  the  sacred  portrait 
of  our  Lord,  with  this  inscription:  "  Christ  God,  he 
who  hopes  in  thee  is  not  deceived  in  his  hope;"  at 
the  same  time  ordering  all  those  who  entered  the  city 
to  give  it  divine  honor.  This  conversion  of  King 
Abgar  and  of  the  Edessians  took  place  in  the  thirtieth 


66  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

year  of  the  Vulgar  Era,  or  in  the  thirty-third  year 
after  the  birth  of  Christ. 

Shortly  after,  Thaddeus,  desiring  to  spread  the 
light  of  the  Gospel  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  went 
to  Inner  Armenia  to  visit  Sanadrug,  who  then  resided 
in  the  province  of  Shavarshan  or  Ardaz.  Sanadrug 
soon  became  a  Christian  and  was  baptized,  together 
with  his  daughter  Santukht,  and  a  great  number  of 
the  chiefs  and  common  people.  Here  Thaddeus  also 
consecrated  a  bishop,  named  Zachariah,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  Upper  Armenia ;  but  finding  the  people  there 
unwilling  to  listen  to  his  preaching,  he  left  them  and 
went  to  the  country  of  the  Aghuans. 

Abgar,  in  his  zeal  for  the  faith  he  had  just  em- 
braced, wrote  to  the  Emperor  Tiberius  in  favor  of 
Christ,  informing  him  how  the  Jews  unjustly  cru- 
cified him,  exhorting  him  at  the  same  time  to  believe 
and  command  others  to  adore  the  Saviour.  Many  let- 
ters passed  between  the  two  monarchs  on  the  subject 
of  his  divine  mission.  He  also  wrote  to  Ardashes, 
king  of  Persia,  and  to  his  son  Nerseh,  the  young  king 
of  Assyria,  exhorting  them  to  become  believers  in 
Christ.  However,  before  he  received  replies  to  these, 
he  died,  in  the  third  year  of  his  conversion  to  Chris- 
tianity. 

His  death  seemed  at  first  to  have  undone  all  his 
work.  His  son  Anane  apostatized  and  tried  to  make 
his  people  do  the  same ;  he  reopened  the  heathen  tem- 
ples, resumed  the  public  worship  of  the  idols,  and 
ordered  the  sacred  handkerchief  removed  from  the 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  67 

city  gate.  Adde  the  bishop  walled  up  the  latter.  The 
king  ordered  the  bishop  to  make  a  diadem  for  him  as 
he  had  for  his  father;  the  bishop  refused  to  make  one 
for  a  head  that  would  not  bow  to  Christ,  and  the  king 
liad  the  bishop's  feet  cut  off  while  he  was  preaching, 
causing  his  death^ —  the  first  Christian  martyr  on 
record.  By  a  just  retribution,  the  savage  king  met 
his  own  death  by  a  marble  pillar  in  his  palace  fall- 
ing on  him  and  breaking  his  legs. 

Meantime  Abgar's  nephew,  Sanadrug,  had  set  up 
his  standard  in  Shavarshan  or  Ardaz,  proclaiming 
himself  king  of  Armenia, —  one  of  the  countless  chief- 
tains who  took  advantage  of  Armenian  anarchy  to  carve 
out  principalities  for  themselves.  On  the  death  of 
Anane  he  marched  to  Edessa,  claiming  it  as  his  own 
inheritance.  The  people  admitted  him  on  his  oath 
not  to  harm  them;  but  once  inside  he  massacred  all 
the  males  of  the  house  of  Abgar.  He  spared  his  aunt, 
Queen  Helena,  Abgar's  widow,  who  became  widely 
famed  as  a  Christian  philanthropist,  and  was  buried 
with  great  pomp  before  one  of  the  gates  of  Jerusalem, 
where  a  splendid  mausoleum  was  erected  over  her  re- 
mains. He  himself  had  apostatized,  and  ordered  all 
his  people  to  do  likewise ;  but  most  of  them  refused  to 
obey,  and  Thaddeus,  hearing  of  it  at  Caesarea,  in  Cap- 
padocia,  started  for  Edessa  to  reconvert  him.  Oh  his 
way  he  fell  in  with  a  Roman  embassy  to  Sanadrug, 
composed  of  five  patricians  headed  by  one  Chrysos ;  he 
converted  and  baptized  them  all,  conferred  priest's  or- 
ders on  Chrysos,  and  they  gave  up  all  their  property 


68  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

and  became  preachers  of  Christ.  They  were  known 
as  followers  of  Chrysos,  and  all  eventually  obtained 
the  crown  of  martyrdom. 

On  the  news  of  these  conversions,  Sanadrug  in- 
vited Thaddeus  to  Shavarshan;  on  his  arrival  he  put 
him  to  death,  and  with  him  his  own  daughter,  San- 
tukht,  who  would  not  give  up  her  faith  in  Christ.  At 
her  death  various  miracles  were  wrought,  which  caused 
many  conversions  to  Christianity;  among  them  a 
notable  chief,  who  was  baptized  with  all  his  family, 
was  renamed  Samuel,  and  was  put  to  death  by  the 
king's  order. 

A  princess  named  Zarmantukht  also  became  a  con- 
vert, with  all  her  household,  two  hundred  people  in 
all;  the  whole  of  them  suffered  martyrdom  in  con- 
sequence. 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff  says:  "  It  is  now  impossible  to 
decide  how  much  truth  there  may  be  in  the  somewhat 
mythical  stories  of  correspondence  between  Christ  and 
Abgarus,  and  the  missionary  activity  and  martyrdom 
of  Thaddeus,  Bartholomew,  Simon  of  Cana,  and  Judas 
Lebbeus.  But  it  is  certain  that  Christianity  was  in- 
troduced very  early  in  Armenia."  I,  however,  con- 
sider what  I  have  told  to  be  true. 

After  this  time,  Christianity  spread  in  Armenia  as 
it  did  in  other  parts  of  the  Greek  Empire;  rapidly  in 
the  cities,  where  intelligence  was  quick,  and  new  ideas 
were  welcomed ;  slowly  in  the  country  districts,  where 
people  did  not  readily  change.  Its  first  result  every- 
where was  not  so  much  to  make  people  believe  in  it 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  69 

as  to  make  them  disbelieve  in  Paganism;  for  every 
person  who  actually  came  to  believe  in  Christ,  there 
were  fifty  who  ceased  to  believe  in  Jupiter,  or  Bel,  or 
Thoth,  Venus  or  Astarte.  There  would  be  a  flourish- 
ing Christian  church  in  a  great  city  when  most  of 
the  people  did  not  have  any  faith  in  any  religion.  But 
everybody  who  had  a  family  came  gradually  to  think 
very  well  of  a  religion  that  gave  them  the  power  to 
teach  children  righteousness,  and  enforce  it  by  the 
command  of  God;  and  the  respectable  classes  became 
more  and  more  Christian.  But  the  fact  that  till  two 
or  three  centuries  after  Christ  there  was  no  general 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  pagan  governments  to  put 
down  the  Christfans  by  persecution,  shows  that  not  till 
then  did  they  become  so  numerous  as  to  frighten  the 
governments  for  fear  they  would  before  long  have  a 
majority;  persecution  means  fear.  The  governments 
let  the  Christians  pretty  much  alone,  except  for  little 
fits  of  anger  now  and  then,  till  they  were  afraid  the 
growth  of  the  sect  would  overthrow  themselves  or 
bring  on  civil  war.  The  Christians  had  become  well 
established  in  Armenia  within  a  century  or  so  after 
the  death  of  Christ;  but  it  was  over  a  century  and  a 
half  before  they  seemed  an  imminent  menace  to  the 
ruling  class.  Then  a  furious  persecution  began,  about 
the  same  time  as  that  of  Diocletian  in  the  Roman  Em- 
pire, and  indeed,  part  of  the  same  movement.  Diocle- 
tian had  set  the  persecuting  King  Tiridates  on  his 
throne,  and  Tiridates  had  passed  his  life  from  boyhood 
almost  to  old  age  in  the  Roman  service,  and  had  the 


70  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

same  ideas  as  the  pagan  Roman  upper  classes.  Yet 
in  the  providence  of  God  this  same  Tiridates  made 
Christianity  supreme  in  Armenia,  fifteen  years  before 
Constantino  made  it  supreme  in  the  Eoman  Empire, 
thus  making  Armenia  the  first  Christian  nation. 
Gregory  the  Illuminator  and  King  Dertad. 
In  the  continual  struggle  between  Rome  and  Par- 
thia  for  the  control  of  Armenia,  the  Parthian  kings 
had  one  great  advantage;  they  were  Arsacids,  and 
could  put  their  sons  or  brothers  on  the  Armenian 
throne  with  the  good-will  of  the  people,  thus  strength- 
ening their  dynastic  position  without  much  cost  in 
military  force.  Often,  too,  the  Armenian  kingship 
was  obtained  by  Parthian  princes,  who  fled  after  a 
family  quarrel,  or  after  deposition  or  other  misfortune. 
One  of  these  Armenian  kings  was  Chosroes,  who 
reigned  in  the  time  of  Ardashir,  the  first  king  of  Per- 
sia, before  spoken  of.  It  is  not  certain  just  who  he 
was;  some  say  a  brother  of  Ardvan,  the  last  king  of 
Parthia;  some  say  the  son  of  Ardvan,  who  fled  after 
his  father's  death.  Anyway,  he  was  a  mortal  enemy 
of  Ardashir,  and  was  at  first  supported  by  the  Romans. 
Ardashir  invaded  Armenia,  but  was  beaten  later. 
Chosroes  quarreled  with  the  Romans,  who  withdrew 
their  support,  and  assailed  him,  but  he  defeated  them; 
and  when  Ardashir  again  invaded  the  country,  Chos- 
roes again  drove  him  back.  The  old  days  of  Tigranes 
seemed  to  have  returned,  and  Armenia  to  be  on  the 
road  again  to  unity  and  independence;  and  Chosroes 
was  called  the  Great.     Ardashir  was  furious  at  being 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  71 

baffled,  and  is  said  to  have  offered  his  daughter's  hand 
and  a  share  in  the  kingdom  to  any  one  of  his  leading 
nobles  who  would  assassinate  Chosroes.  An  Arsacid 
named  Anag  accepted  the  offer,  though  he  had  a 
wife  already,  and  went  with  his  family  to  Armenia, 
pretending  to  be  in  flight  from  Persian  troops.  Chos- 
roes gave  him  a  military  escort  into  the  province  of 
Ardaz,  where  he  lived  for  a  time  in  the  very  place 
St.  Thaddeus'  bones  were  deposited.  Later  on,  Anag 
removed  to  Vagharshabad  (the  present  city  of  Etch- 
miazin,  where  the  Armenian  Catholicos  resides),  Chos- 
roes' royal  city.  Here  Anag  seizing  his  opportunity, 
stabbed  Chosroes  to  the  heart.  In  his  flight  he  was 
drowned  in  trying  to  cross  the  Aras,  and  his  family 
were  massacred  by  the  soldiery. 

Ardashir  had  gotten  rid  of  his  unconquerable  en- 
emy, and  without  having  to  pay  the  stipulated  price. 
He  at  once  entered  Armenia  and  put  to  death  every 
member  of  Chosroes'  family  save  a  boy  and  a  girl, 
Tiridates  and  Chosrovitukht,  who  were  somehow  smug- 
gled away,  and  the  old  game  of  Perso-Roman  foot-ball 
over  Armenia  went  on  as  before.  Tiridates  entered 
the  Roman  army,  when  grown  up,  and  became  dis- 
tinguished there,  evidently  inheriting  his  father's  mil- 
itary ability;  and  remained  in  the  Roman  service  cer- 
tainly to  the  age  of  over  45,  and  perhaps  till  over  50. 
That  the  Romans  waited  all  this  time  before  using 
him  as  a  candidate  for  the  Armenian  throne  seems 
strange;  but  the  reason  probably  is  that  the  early 
years  of  his  manhood  fell  in  a  time  when  Rome  was 


72  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

weak  and  Persia  strong.  The  great  Shahpur,  Ar- 
dasliir's  son,  reigned  in  Persia  till  about  272;  the  imbe- 
cile Gallienus  of  Eome  reigned  from  260  till  268,  and 
was  succeeded  by  a  crowd  of  emperors  able  indeed, 
but  too  short-lived  to  carry  out  any  steady  policy,  or 
drive  the  Persians  out  of  their  strong  places.  The 
first  emperor  who  found  himself  in  a  position  to  re- 
store the  Eoman  power  in  the  East. was  Diocletian, 
who  came  to  the  Koman  throne  in  284,  and  it  is  sig- 
nificant that  he  made  Tiridates  king  of  Armenia  only 
two  years  later.  As  Diocletian  was  a  soldier  of  for- 
tune, probably  he  had  known  and  respected  Tiridates 
long  before.  Any^vay,  in  286  Rome  once  more  had 
her  turn  in  Armenian  affairs,  and  with  one  short  in- 
terval, kept  absolute  control  of  the  country  for  over 
half  a  century. 

iN'ow  there  had  been  bom  in  Armenia  about  257 
a  child  who  had  early  been  taken  to  Caesarea  by  Chris- 
tian relatives,  baptized,  named  Gregory,  and  reared  in 
the  Christian  faith.  On  reaching  maturity  he  mar- 
ried a  Christian  girl  by  whom  he  had  two  sons;  but 
after  three  years  they  separated  by  mutual  consent. 
The  vnie  entered  a  convent.  Gregory,  hearing  of  Ti- 
ridates' renown  in  the  Roman  army,  went  and  obtained 
service  near  the  prince's  person,  to  be  able  to  have 
influence  with  him  if  he  ever  regained  his  kingdom. 
They  became  fast  friends.  When  Tiridates  was  pro- 
claimed king,  he  went  first  to  Erija,  in  the  province  of 
Egueghatz,  where  was  a  temple  of  Anahid  (Diana), 
whom  the  Armenians  worshiped  as  guardian  goddess 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  78 

of  the  country;  and  making  offerings  to  her  of  gar- 
hjnds  and  crowns,  asked  Gregory  to  join  liim  in  his 
idolatry.  Gregory  refused  to  worship  anything  hut 
the  one  God.  Tiridates  ordered  him  imprisoned  for 
a  while,  thinking  the  loathsome  dungeon  of  that  time 
would  change  his  resolution;  finding  him  still  firm,  he 
had  him  tortured  in  a  dozen  frightful  ways,  and  at 
last  taken  to  the  fortress  of  Ardashad  and  thrown  into 
a  deep  pit,  where  criminals  were  left  to  starve.  There 
Gregory  remained  fourteen  years,  supported  all  that 
time  by  the  charity  of  a  pious  Christian  woman. 
After  about  ten  years  of  reign,  Tiridates  was  driven 
from  his  throne  by  Persians,  and  once  more  became  a 
w^anderer;  but  two  years  later  he  was  reinstated  by  the 
Romans,  and  finished  his  life  on  the  throne.  In  grat- 
itude for  this  second  restoration,  he  had  daily  offerings 
made  to  the  heathen  gods  all  over  his  kingdom;  and 
on  being  told  that  the  Christians  refused  to  comply, 
ordered  all  recusants  to  be  tortured,  and  their  prop- 
erty confiscated. 

About  this  time  Diocletian  determined  to  find  and 
marry  the  handsomest  woman  in  his  empire,  and  sent 
officers  all  over  in  search  of  noted  beauties.  One 
party,  hearing  that  a  nun  named  Ripsime  was  very 
beautiful,  entered  her  convent  by  force,  had  a  portrait 
made  of  her,  and  carried  it  to  the  emperor.  Diocle- 
tian was  enchanted  with  it,  and  ordered  preparations 
made  for  the  nuptials;  but  the  abbess,  Kayane,  to 
save  the  nun  from  sin,  and  the  community  from  dan- 
ger, broke  up  the  convent,  and  the  inmates  with  sev- 


74  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

eral  priests  —  seventy  in  all  —  went  to  the  East,  and 
scattered  themselves  in  different  localities.  Ripsime 
and  Kayane,  with  thirty-five  companions,  reached  Ar- 
dashad  in  Armenia,  and  took  refuge  in  a  building 
among  the  vineyards,  where  wine  vats  were  stored. 
Diocletian  had  search  made  for  his  flown  bird,  and, 
hearing  that  her  company  had  gone  to  Armenia,  com- 
manded Tiridates  to  send  her  back  to  him  unless  he 
wished  to  keep  her  for  his  own  wife.  Tiridates  had 
her  hunted  out,  and  the  officers  bringing  a  report  of 
her  extraordinary  beauty,  so  great  that  people  flocked 
to  admire  her,  he  ordered  her  brought  to  him,  intend- 
ing to  marry  her.  Kayane  exhorted  her  not  to  deny 
Christ  for  the  sake  of  earthly  honors,  and  she  refused 
to  go.  She  was  carried  by  force,  however,  and  the 
king  undertook  to  gain  a  husband's  rights  at  once;  but 
the  virgin,  strengthened  by  divine  power,  resisted  him 
successfully.  Tiridates  then  had  the  Abbess  Kayane 
brought  to  him  to  overcome  the  girl's  scruples;  but 
instead,  she  once  more  exhorted  Ripsime  to  keep  her- 
self pure  in  spite  of  all  offered  grandeur.  The  king 
once  more  endeavored  to  deflower  the  maiden,  and 
was  once  more  beaten;  and  Ripsime,  opening  the  doors 
and  passing  out  through  the  astonished  guards,  walked 
out  of  the  city,  to  her  companions  in  the  vineyard, 
went  to  a  high  place,  and  knelt  down  in  prayer.  The 
incensed  Tiridates  sent  a  body  of  guards  to  put  her  to 
death  by  the  most  dreadful  tortures,  which  was  done, 
and  her  body  cut  into  small  pieces.  Her  companions 
gathered  to  bury  her  remains,   and   were   at  once 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  75 

butchered  by  the  soldiery,  as  well  as  a  sick  one,  who 
had  stayed  behind  in  the  wine  press.  The  bodies  of 
the  thirty-four  martyrs  were  thrown  into  the  fields  as 
food  for  the  beasts  of  prey.  The  next  day  Tiridates 
had  Kayane  and  two  other  companions  put  to  death. 
These  events  occurred  on  the  5th  and  6th  of  October, 
301. 

Shortly  after,  God  visited  the  king  and  many  of 
his  household  with  a  dreadful  disease  for  his  perse- 
cution of  the  saints.  They  ran  around  like  mad  peo- 
ple or  demoniacs.  While  they  were  in  this  state,  the 
king's  virgin  sister  Chosrovitukht  had  a  divine  revela- 
tion that  she  should  go  to  Ardashad  and  release  Gre- 
gory from  the  pit,  and  he  would  heal  them  all.  As  he 
had  been  thrown  there  fourteen  years  ago,  and  was 
believed  to  be  long  dead,  no  attention  was  paid  to  it; 
but  the  next  day  it  was  repeated  five  times  with 
threats,  and  a  chief  named  Oda  was  sent,  who  brought 
him  back  alive,  to  their  great  amazement  and  joy. 
They  prostrated  themselves  before  him  and  asked  for- 
giveness, but  he  told  them  to  worship  only  their  Cre- 
ator. Then  he  demanded  to  be  shown  the  bodies  of 
the  holy  martyrs  lately  just  slain  for  belief  in  Christ; 
they  were  found  after  nine  days  and  nights  untouched, 
and  he  gathered  them  up  and  put  them  into  the  wine 
press,  where  he  also  established  himself.  First  he 
ordered  the  king  and  all  the  people  to  fast  five  days, 
and  commended  them  to  the  mercy  of  God ;  and  after 
that  for  sixty  consecutive  days  he  preached  the  word 
of  God,  instructing  them  in  all  the  mysteries  of  the 


7G  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

ChFistian  religion.  On  the  sixty-sixth  day  they  again 
besought  him  to  heal  them,  but  first  he  made  them 
build  three  chapels  for  the  relics  of  the  martyrs,  each 
in  a  separate  coffin,  wall  in  the  place  where  he  had 
seen  a  vision  of  the  Son  of  God  coming  down  from 
heaven,  and  erect  a  crucifix  before  which  the  people 
should  prostrate  themselves.  Finally,  seeing  that 
they  all  believed  in  the  true  God,  St.  Gregory  bade 
them  kneel  down  and  pray  to  Him  for  healing;  he 
himself  prayed  for  them  at  the  same  time,  and  a  mira- 
culous cure  was  at  once  effected  on  all  the  sufferers. 

This  done,  Gregory  and  Tiridates  set  about  ex- 
terminating idolatry;  they  smashed  the  idols  and  de- 
molished the  temples,  the  new  converts  joyfully  as- 
sisting them.  The  work  of  conversion  went  on  rapidly, 
under  the  wonderful  preaching  of  the  Saint,  and  the 
zeal  of  the  king;  all  the  people  converted  were  baptized 
by  immersion.  In  eight  years  the  majority  of  the 
Armenian  nation,  many  millions  in  number,  had  be- 
come Christians.  That  religion  was  made  the  State 
creed  of  Armenia  in  310,  while  the  Council  of  Nice, 
which  did  the  same  work  for  Rome,  was  not  held  till 
325. 

Gregory  deserves  every  credit  for  this  magnificent 
work ;  but  I  cannot  help  wishing  he  had  been  less  zeal- 
ous in  destroying  the  pagan  literature,  which  is  a  very 
great  loss  to  the  world.  However,  Christianity  is 
worth  it,  if  we  could  not  have  it  at  a  less  price. 

Schools,  as  well  as  churches  and  benevolent  in- 
stitutions, were  organized  in  great  numbers  under 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  77 

Christian  auspices  during  the  next  two  or  three  cen- 
turies, and  a  brilliant  band  of  scholars  and  preachers 
went  out  from  them,  the  equals  of  any  in  their  age, 
and  perhaps  in  any  age.  I  will  give  sketches  of  some 
of  the  principal  figures,  but  first  let  me  briefly  tell  the 
history  of  Armenia  during  that  period. 

The  rivalry  between  Rome  and  Persia  grew  fiercer 
than  ever  with  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  for 
now  religious  hate  was  added  to  political  ambition; 
and  on  the  side  of  Persia  the  Armenian  difficulties 
were  doubled,  for  a  considerable  part  of  the  Armenians 
were  still  Zoroastrians,  and  sympathized  with  the  Per- 
sians against  their  own  government,  while  many  of 
the  Persians  had  become  Christian,  and  opposed  their 
pagan  rulers.  Thus  the  Persians  felt  that  they  had  a 
civil  war  on  their  hands  as  well  as  foreign  wars,  and 
persecuted  their  Christians  horribly.  On  the  other 
hand,  they  had  the  help  of  the  pagan  part  of  the  Ar- 
menians in  invading  or  controlling  that  state;  still 
again,  the  Armenian  Christians  now  favored  the  Ro- 
mans much  more  strongly  than  they  had  before,  be- 
cause Rome  was  now  Christian ;  while  on  top  of  all  were 
the  great  barons,  almost  independent  of  the  nominal 
kings,  and  who  favored  neither  party  but  wanted  their 
feudal  independence.  Yet  the  Roman  control  of  the 
kingship,  for  what  it  was  worth,  lasted  without  a  break 
for  over  half  a  century  after  the  victory  of  Christian- 
ity, and  over  three-quarters  of  a  century  from  the  ac- 
cession of  Tiridates;  which  was  due  largely  to  the 
great  ability  of  the  Roman  emperors  Diocletian  and 


78  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Constantine,  and  the  excellent  administration  and  mil- 
itary organization  they  left,  which  saved  the  eastern 
provinces  from  Persia  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century 
after  Constantine's  death.     Shahpur  II,  of  Persia, 
won  many  victories,  but  he  could  not  hold  even  the 
places  he  captured,  and  he  gained  no  territory  till  the 
death  of  "  Julian  the  Apostate  "  in  his  Persian  cam- 
paign of  363.     His  weak  and  frightened  successor 
Jovian  surrendered  a  great  section  of  the  Eastern  Ro- 
man territory,  and  still  more  disgracefully  agreed  that 
the  Eomans  should  not  help  their  ally  Arshag  (Ar- 
saces),  king  of  Armenia,  against  Shahpur.     Armenia 
was  at  once  invaded,  but  she  felt  her  national  existence 
at  stake,  and  fought  with  desperation.     Though  Shah- 
pur had  the  help  of  two  apostate  Armenian  princes, 
Merujan  and  Vahan,  and  other  native  traitors,  who 
ravaged  the  country  and  fought  their  king  because  he 
was  a  Christian,  Arshag  held  out  four  years,  aided  by 
his  heroic  though  unprincipled  wife  Parantzem,  and 
his  able  chief  commander  Yashag.       Vagharshabad, 
Ardashad,  Ervandshad,  and  many  other  cities  were 
taken  and  destroyed ;  finally  Arshag  and  Yashag  were 
captured.     Arshag's  eyes  were  put  out,  and  he  was 
thrown  into  a  Persian  dungeon  in  Ecbatana;  Yashag 
was  flayed  alive,  and  his  skin  stuffed  and  set  near  the 
king.     Queen  Parantzem  still  refused  to  surrender, 
and  with  11,000  soldiers  and  6,000  fugitive  women  held 
the  fortress  of  Ardis  fourteen  months,  till  nearly  all  of 
them  were  dead  from  hunger  or  disease;  then  she 
opened  the  gates  herself.     Instead  of  honoring  her, 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  79 

Shahpur,  who  was  a  worthy  predecessor  of  the  Turks, 
had  her  violated  on  a  public  platform  by  his  soldiers, 
and  then  impaled  (368).  Meantime,  her  and  Ashag'a 
son,  Bab  (Papa),  had  escaped  to  Constantinople  and 
afeked  the  help  of  the  co-Emperor  Valens.  That  em- 
peror hated  to  break  the  treaty,  and  involve  Rome  in 
a  new  eastern  war;  but  he  could  not  suffer  Persia  to 
be  strengthened  by  the  possession  of  all  Armenia,  and 
the  Roman  statesmen  had  determined  to  end  the  long 
struggle  over  Armenia  by  dividing  it  between  Persia 
and  themselves.  Bab  was  secretly  helped  by  the  Ro- 
mans; he  kept  up  a  guerrilla  warfare  in  the  mountains, 
and  a  large  part  of  the  Armenian  people  were  pre- 
pared to  welcome  him  back  to  his  rightful  throne. 
The  Romans  tried  to  keep  within  the  letter  of  their 
treaty  by  not  letting  him  assume  the  title  of  king. 
The  Persians  considered  his  support  by  Greek  troops 
a  breach  of  the  treaty,  none  the  less,  and  Valens  al- 
ternately aided  and  disavowed  him.  The  matter  was 
not  mended  by  the  worthless  character  of  Bab  himself, 
who  murdered  his  best  friends  on  the  least  suspicion, 
and  had  the  incredible  bareness  to  hold  a  secret  cor- 
respondence with  Shahpur,  the  worse  than  murderer  of 
his  parents.  Finally  the  Romans,  convinced  that  he 
must  be  under  their  watch  if  they  were  to  have  any 
security  of  him,  tolled  him  down  to  Cilicia,  and  pre- 
vented him  from  returning  by  guards  of  soldiers.  He 
made  his  escape,  and  professed  his  allegiance  to  the 
Romans  as  before;  but  Yalens  resolved  to  be  rid  of 


80  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

him,  and  had  him  murdered  by  Count  Trajan,  the 
Roman  commander  in  the  East. 

Meantime  a  powerful  Roman  army  under  Count 
Trajan,  and  the  chief  Persian  host,  had  actually 
camped  opposite  each  other  on  the  borders  of  Armenia 
(371) ;  but  neither  side  wanted  a  general  war  just  then, 
— Rome  must  have  her  hands  free  for  the  Goths,  and 
Persia  hers  for  the  Mongols.  Finally,  in  379,  Shah- 
pur  died,  and  there  was  an  instant  and  entire  change  in 
Persian  policy  toward  Rome,  and  even  toward  Chris- 
tianity for  a  while.  His  brother  and  successor,  Ar- 
dashir,  was  an  old  man,  and  reigned  but  four  years; 
his  successor,  Shahpur  III,  at  once  sent  embassies  to 
Rome,  and  made  a  treaty  of  peace  (384).  Finally, 
on  the  succession  of  Bahram  IV  (Kirman  Shah),  in 
390,  that  monarch  arranged  a  treaty  of  partition  with 
Theodosius,  the  Roman  emperor,  by  which  Armenia 
ceased  to  exist.  The  western  portion  became  a  Ro- 
man province ;  the  then  reigning  sovereign,  Arshag  IV, 
was  made  governor  to  keep  the  people  contented.  The 
eastern,  and  much  the  larger  section,  was  annexed  to 
Persia,  under  the  name  of  Persarmenia;  and  to  please 
the  people,  an  Arsacid,  Chosroes  IV,  was  made  gov- 
ernor, and  the  dynasty  was  continued  in  its  rule  over 
the  Armenians  till  after  the  great  Perso-Roman  war  of 
421-2,  and  the  persecution  of  Christians  by  Persia, 
which  was  the  pretext  of  it.  The  persecution  and  the 
war  led  to  a  movement  for  Armenian  independence; 
after  it  was  over,  Bahram  V  of  Persia  (Gor,  the  Wild 
Ass,  "  the  mighty  hunter  ")  put  a  new  vassal,  Ar- 


THE  AR^IENIAN  DYNASTIES.  81 

dashes  IV,  into  the  governorship;  but  the  great  Ar- 
menian barons  would  not  give  up  the  struggle,  and 
this  last  of  the  Arshagoonian  dynasty  was  removed  in 
428  and  Persian  governors  substituted. 

Thus  ended  the  rule  of  the  line  of  Arshag.  It  was 
a  mighty  race,  and  swarms  with  brilliant  names;  but  in 
Persia  it  was  justly  displaced  by  one  of  better  public 
policy,  and  in  Armenia  the  position  of  the  country 
was  fatal  to  it. 

THE  INTERREGNUM. 
Prominent  Men;  Litera.ture;  The  Church  and  the  Clergy. 

yFrom  the  time  of  the  partition  to  the  succession 
of  the  Pakradoonian  dynasty  there  was  not  in  name 
an  Armenian  kingdom;  but  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  there  was  not  an  Armenian  nation.  No  matter 
how  its  neighbor  nations  changed,  that  country  was 
always  called  Armenia,  and  the  people  held  to  their 
Armenian  ways  and  feelings.  The  national  feeling 
was  as  strong  as  before,  and  above  all  the  feeling  of 
church  unity  was  very  intense.  No  one  will  ever 
understand  Armenian  history,  or  indeed  any  Oriental 
history  at  all,  who  does  not  realize  that  religious  ques- 
tions come  first,  and  political  questions  second.  The 
Armenian  church  was,  it  is  true,  a  Christian  church; 
but  it  was  the  Armenian  Christian  church,  not  the 
Greek  church,  and  the  Syrian  and  African  churches 
had  their  separate  creeds  and  preferences,  and  the 
Greek  church,  which  was  the  official  church  of  the 

Greek  Empire,  was  always  trying  to  root  out  their 
6 


82  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

"  heresies  "  and  make  them  Greek. )  That  was  one  rea- 
son why  the  Mohammedans  conquered  those  countries 
so  easily.  The  Africans  would  rather  be  ruled  by 
the  Mohammedans  than  by  the  Greek  church,  the 
Syrians  were  angry  because  the  Greek  church  wanted 
to  take  away  their  own  church  and  give  them  the 
Greek.  But  the  Armenians  would  not  take  either 
the  Greek  or  the  Mohammedan  or  the  Zoroastrian; 
they  wanted  their  own.  So  they  were  persecuted  ter- 
ribly by  the  Greek  Christians  and  the  Persian  fire- 
worshipers  alike.  Just  as  before  the  partition,  each 
country  invaded  the  other's  part  of  Armenia  when- 
ever they  got  into  war;  and  whichever  won,  the  Ar- 
menians were  the  losers.  When  the  Greeks  won,  they 
tortured  the  Armenians;  when  the  Persians  won,  they 
tortured  the  Armenians;  later,  when  the  Mohamme- 
dans won,  they  also  tortured  the  Armenians.  The 
mediaeval  history  of  Armenia  is  that  of  a  battle- 
ground between  contending  races  —  Greeks,  Per- 
sians, Scythians,  Arabs,  Seljuk  Turks,  Ottoman  Turks, 
Mongols,  and  so  on.  Millions  of  its  people  were  slain; 
millions  died  of  famine  and  disease;  millions  of  its 
women  were  forced  to  embrace  Mohammedanism  and 
become  the  wives  and  mothers  of  Mohammedans, — 
half  the  blood  of  those  who  are  called  Turks  at  this 
day  is  Armenian;  millions  of  its  boys  were  forced  into 
the  Turkish  service,  so  that  many  of  the  best-known 
names  in  Turkish  history,  and  in  the  Turkey  of  to- 
day, are  Armenian  names.     Yet  through  all  these  ca- 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  83 

lamities  and  decimations  Armenia  has  kept  its  national 
life  and  national  religion. 

From  390  to  640  the  history  of  both  sections  of 
Armenia  is  little  more  than  an  account  of  religious 
persecutions  and  their  results;  the  persecutors  on  the 
one  side  were  Christians,  and  on  the  other  side  Zoroas- 
trians,  but  the  results  to  the  Armenians  were  much 
the  same.  The  Persian  atrocities,  however,  were  on 
the  larger  scale,  and  the  outcome  was  a  chronic  state 
of  revolt,  which  will  be  alluded  to  in  the  sketch  of 
Vartan  the  defender.  But  the  rise  of  the  Saracen 
power  changed  Armenians  greatest  foe  from  the  Per- 
sian to  the  Arab,  from  the  fire-worshipers  to  the  Mo- 
hammedans. Persia  was  invaded  by  the  forces  of 
the  caliph  Omar  in  634,  and  about  640-2  the  decisive 
battle  of  ^N^ehavend  annihilated  the  last  great  Persian 
army,  though  scattered  places  held  out  much  longer. 
The  Armenian  highlands  at  once  resumed  their  inde- 
pendence, and  their  chiefs,  with  those  of  the  western 
section  belonging  to  the  Byzantine  Empire,  fought  for 
their  own  hand  in  lack  of  a  true  national  chief  whom 
all  could  look  up  to,  but  allied  themselves  mainly  with 
the  Greek  power  against  the  barbarians;  and  for  two 
entire  centuries,  and  more,  Armenia  was  a  furious 
and  bloody  battle-ground  between  Greeks  and  Sar- 
acens, while  internally  in  a  state  of  feudal  anarchy. 
Then  a  prince  of  the  family  of  Pakrad  or  Bagrat  (well- 
known  to  students  of  the  last  century's  history  in  the 
form  of  Bagration),  of  Jewish  descent,  as  has  already 
been  mentioned,  which  had  obtained  power  over  the 


84  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

central  and  northern  parts  of  Armenia,  was  recognized 
by  the  caliph  as  an  independent  monarch;  and  thus 
founded  the  Pakradoonian  dynasty,  which  lasted  till 
Armenia's  independence  was  once  more  extinguished 
by  the  Byzantine  Empire, —  a  crime  almost  immedi- 
ately punished  by  the  overwhelming  of  Asia  Minor  by 
the  Seljuk  Turks. 

PROMINENT  MEN  OF  THE  PERIOD. 
NiERSEs  The  Great. 

This  was  the  great  creator  of  Armenian  scholar- 
ship. He  was  a  descendant  of  St.  Gregory;  studied 
in  the  Greek  schools  of  Caesarea  during  boyhood ;  later 
in  those  of  Constantinople,  where  he  became  famous 
for  learning,  married  a  Greek  princess  of  a  distin- 
guished house,  and  on  his  return  to  Armenia  was  made 
pontiff.  (All  the  clergy  were  married  then,  as  the 
Greek  priests  are  now.)  He  founded  over  2,000 
schools,  and  benevolent  institutions,  as  well  as  great 
numbers  of  churches,  was  a  powerful  and  persuasive 
preacher,  and  a  considerable  writer,  part  of  the  Church 
history  being  his.  From  these  schools  went  forth  a 
very  brilliant  band  of  scholars,  preachers  and  orators, 
the  equals  of  any  in  the  world. 

It  was  during  his  pontificate  that  the  affairs  of 
Arshag  and  Bab  took  place,  and  he  was  intimately  con- 
nected with  them  till  his  death  at  the  hands  of  the  lat- 
ter. Previous  to  the  desertion  of  Armenia  by  the 
Eomans  in  363,  they  had  quarreled  with  Arshag,  and 
sent  an  army  to  punish  him ;  but  on  Merses'  interces- 
sion with  Yalens  it  was  recalled,  and  the  Saint  obtained 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  85 

high  favor  with  the  emperor.  Arshag's  conduct,  how- 
ever, grew  too  bad  for  endurance;  he  had  his  father 
and  a  rehitive  named  Kuenel  (or  Gnel)  killed,  and  mar- 
ried KueneFs  wife,  Parantzem  (who  afterwards  met 
such  a  horrible  fate),  though  his  own  wife,  Olympias, 
was  still  alive.  Nierses,  finding  admonition  of  no 
avail,  quitted  Vagharshabad  and  went  into  a  convent. 
But  Arshag,  getting  into  fresh  difficulties  with  the 
emperor  and  his  own  rebellious  vassals,  besought  the 
saint  to  assist  him  once  more,  and  once  more  Nierses 
complied.  He  first  pacified  the  turbulent  nobility; 
then  interceded  with  the  Roman  commander  to  such 
effect  that  the  general  withdrew  his  army  and  went 
to  Constantinople  to  justify  himself  to  the  emperor, 
taking  a  letter  to  him  from  Arshag,  and  hostages  for 
the  latter^s  loyalty,  and  also  inducing  Nierses  to  ac- 
company him.  But  Valens  was  enraged  at  the  with- 
drawal, would  neither  read  the  letter  nor  see  the  saint, 
and  ordered  the  hostages  killed  and  INTierses  banished. 
The  former  sentence  was  revoked  on  the  general's  in- 
tercession, but  Nierses  was  shipped  for  his  place  of 
exile;  on  the  way  a  storm  wrecked  the  vessel  on  a 
desert  island,  but  he  and  the  crew  were  saved.  It  was 
winter,  and  they  could  find  no  food  but  the  roots  of 
trees,  but  in  a  short  time  the  sea  miraculously  cast 
abundance  of  fish  on  shore,  and  for  eight  months  they 
never  suffered  for  sustenance.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
the  saint  was  set  free. 

After  the  restoration  of  Bab  to  the  land,  though 
not  the  acknowledged  throne  of  his  fathers,  Nierses 


86  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

convened  an  assembly  of  Armenian  princes  and  eccle- 
siastical heads,  with  the  king,  and  swore  them  all  to 
mutual  concord  and  good  behavior,  to  unite  the  land 
against  the  Persians;  but  Bab,  like  so  many  Eastern 
potentates  and  indeed  his  father,  cared  for  nothing  but 
to  indulge  his  own  passions,  and  would  have  sold  his 
country  to  Shahpur  if  he  could  have  got  his  price. 
Nierses  in  vain  tried  to  turn  him  from  his  evil  ways; 
Bab  merely  hated  him  for  it,  and  finally  had  him  pois- 
oned, in  the  village  of  Khakh  in  the  province  of  Eghue- 
ghiatz.  Nierses  had  been  pontiff  eight  years,  but  they 
were  crowded  with  labors  of  immense  variety  and  use- 
fulness. He  left  one  son  (Isaac),  who  eventually  be- 
came pontiff  also. 

Sahag  and  Mesrob. 

Isaac  was  educated  at  Constantinople  like  his 
father,  and  had  at  first  no  thought  of  being  a  great 
churchman,  but  only  of  leading  the  life  of  a  noble. 
He  was  always,  however,  of  a  very  pure  and  lofty  char- 
acter, a  marked  contrast  to  the  proud  and  dissolute  no- 
bility around  him;  and  after  the  early  death  of  his 
wife,  devoted  himself  to  religious  seclusion,  into  which 
he  was  followed  by  sixty  disciples.  In  389,  a  few 
years  after  his  father's  death,  he  was  called  out  to  fill 
the  pontificate,  once  more  vacant.  This  was  the  year 
before  the  partition  of  Armenia;  but  even  after  that, 
though  the  country  was  divided,  the  church  was  not. 
The  Armenian  Church  was  still  one,  with  a  single 
head;  but  the  appointment  of  that  head  was  of  such 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  87 

immense  political  importance  that,  as  the  king  had  be- 
fore claimed  the  deciding  voice  in  it,  so  now  each  power 
insisted  on  being  satisfied, —  no  easy  matter.  Some  of 
the  nobles  who  opposed  Chosroes  of  Persarmenia 
now  complained  to  the  king  of  Persia  that  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  new  pontiif  had  been  made  without 
his  consent,  in  order  to  foment  a  rebellion,  and  make 
Armenia  independent  again;  and  the  king  deposed 
Isaac.  Shortly  after,  however,  a  new  king  reinstated 
him;  and  a  new  vassal  king  being  put  in  Chosroes' 
place,  and  the  country  more  quiet,  St.  Isaac  began  to 
repair  the  churches,  which  had  fallen  into  decay, — 
entirely  rebuilding  that  of  St.  Kipsime,  destroyed  by 
Shahpur,  in  the  course  of  which  he  discovered  St. 
Gregory's  urn  sealed  with  his  cross-engraven  signet. 

About  this  time  St.  Mesrob  began  to  be  famous  for 
sanctity.  He  was  a  scholar  well  versed  in  Greek, 
Syrian,  and  Persian,  as  well  as  his  native  tongue ;  had 
been  secretary  to  St.  Nierses,  and  after  his  death  re- 
mained at  court  under  the  patronage  of  a  prince 
named  Aravan,  where  he  became  chancellor.  Finally 
he  became  wearied  of  earthly  glory  and  court  corrup- 
tions, and  entered  a  convent,  whither  many  disciples 
were  attracted  by  his  learning  and  sanctity.  Hearing 
of  St.  Isaac's  beneficent  deeds,  however,  he  left  the 
convent  and  attached  himself  to  him;  and  under  his 
authority  preached  and  taught  in  all  parts  of  the  pro- 
vince. We  are  told  that  by  the  aid  of  the  chief  of 
Koghten  he  extirpated  a  diabolic  heathen  sect  in  that 
province.     But  his  fame  is  chiefly  as  having  begun 


88  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

with  Isaac  the  Golden  Age  of  Armenian- literature;  I 
shall  speak  of  this  a  little  later. 

Barouyr  or  Bkoyebios. 

We  must  not  judge  the  ability  and  reputation  of 
men  in  their  own  ages  solely  by  the  familiarity  of 
their  names  to  us;  those  that  have  come  down  to 
us  are  a  mere  handful,  and  not  by  any  means  always 
the  greatest  of  their  time.  Much  depends  on  chance 
—  the  preservation  of  certain  works,  and  the  loss 
of  others,  or  certain  men  happening  to  do  something 
dramatic.  Great  orators  are  especially  likely  to  be 
forgotten;  they  leave  no  written  works  of  their  own, 
and  not  being  in  political  life,  the  common  histories 
do  not  mention  them.  The  name  of  Barouyr  is  wholly 
unknown  to  this  age;  but  we  have  the  testimony  of  a 
contemporary  writer,  Eunapius  of  Sardis, —  not  a 
countryman  of  his,  and  therefore  free  from  all  suspi- 
cion of  patriotic  brag,  and  most  unlikely  to  make  out 
an  Armenian  greater  than  he  was, —  that  he  was  the 
most  wonderful  orator  of  his  time,  famous  all  over  the 
Eoman  world,  and  greatly  admired  even  by  the  em- 
perors. He  was  one  of  those  men  to  whom  all  languages 
seem  alike  to  come  by  nature,  and  his  oratory  was  as 
easy  and  as  perfect  in  one  as  in  the  other;  in  Latin  or 
Greek  as  in  his  national  Armenian.  The  only  com- 
parison I  can  give  in  modem  times  is  Louis  Kossuth. 
That  Barouyr  has  not  the  fame  of  Cicero  or  Demosthe- 
nes, Kossuth  or  Gladstone,  is  probably  because  under 
the  circumstances  of  the  time  he  could  not  engage  in 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  B^ 

political  life ;  military  service  or  high  birth  were  about 
the  only  avenues  to  that.  I  will  quote  in  substance 
what  Eunapius  says  of  this  brilliant  orator,  whom  he 
probably  knew  all  about,  as  our  boys  know  Gladstone, 
—  for  he  was  born  in  347,  and  Barouyr  was  certainly 
alive  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Julian,  who  came  to 
the  throne  in  361: — 

Barouyr  lived  to  be  ninety,  and  was  beautiful 
even  in  old  age,  having  the  vigor  of  youth  in  his 
looks.  He  was  eight  feet  high.  When  a  boy  he  left 
Armenia  and  went  to  Antioch,  the  first  seat  of  the 
Christians,  and  entered  the  school  of  oratory  under  the 
celebrated  Albianos,  where  he  shortly  became  the  fore- 
most pupil.  Thence  he  went  to  Athens  and  studied 
under  Julian,  the  greatest  of  the  teachers  of  oratory 
there, —  supporting  himself  by  working  meantime, 
as  he  was  very  poor;  in  no  long  time  he  was  recognized 
as  the  leading  orator  of  Athens,  and  taught  the  art  to 
the  Athenians.  The  other  teachers  were  so  angry 
that  they  bribed  the  governor  to  banish  him;  but  on 
the  govenior's  removal  some  time  after,  he  was  per- 
mitted to  return.  The  new  governor  instituted  an 
oratorical  competition ;  whoever  could  deliver  the  best 
extempore  oration  on  a  subject  to  be  given  out  on  the 
spot,  should  receive  great  honors.  Barouyr  took  part 
on  condition  that  the  auditors  should  take  careful  notes, 
and  should  not  cheer;  but  they  were  so  fascinated  that 
they  broke  both  conditions,  listening  in  rapture  and 
applauding  repeatedly.  The  governor  offered  him  his 
chair,  and  honored  him  as  the  greatest  orator  in  Athens. 


90  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Later,  the  Emperor  Constans  was  so  struck  with  his 
wisdom  and  oratorical  power  that  he  called  him  first 
to  Gaul  and  then  to  Eome,  where  he  delivered  his 
greatest  orations,  and  the  Romans  erected  a  bronze 
monument  in  his  honor,  inscribed  "  Regina  Rerum 
Romae,  Regi  Eloquentiae  "  (Rome  Queen  of  Affairs, 
to  the  King  of  Eloquence).  From  Rome  he  returned 
to  Athens,  and  taught  there  many  years  with  great 
repute,  up  to  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Julian,  who 
honored  him,  and  spoke  as  follows  of  him :  ^'  Barouyr 
was  a  flowing  river  of  oratory,  and  in  power  and  per- 
suasiveness of  speech  was  like  Pericles."  And  I  must 
add  that  with  all  this  he  was  a  thorough  Christian  man, 
—  not  a  priest,  but  a  great  Christian  layman  and 
teacher. 

Vartan,  Defender  of  the  Faith. 

Yartan  Mamigonian  is  the  most  esteemed  and  be- 
loved name  in  Armenian  history.  Tiridates  founded 
the  Christian  kingdom;  but  when  the  religion  was  in 
danger  of  extermination  throughout  Persian  Armenia 
at  the  hands  of  the  fire-worshipers,  Vartan  saved  it, 
and  died  for  it,  a  faithful  servant  of  God  and  his  Sav- 
iour. It  was  said  of  him  that  he  was  an  honest,  mod- 
est, wise,  brave,  true,  pure,  childlike,  and  Christ- 
like Christian  commander,  a  great  soldier  of  the  Cross. 
He  was  a  lamb  in  nature,  but  when  he  came  to  defend 
his  religion  he  was  a  lion.  As  a  little  boy  he  was  so 
full  of  grace  that  the  Pontiff  Sahag  adopted  him  as  his 
son;  and  through  this  companionship  of  the  aged  ec- 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  ftl 

clesiastic  and  the  religious  boy,  the  latter  developed 
into  a  great  spiritual  light.  In  421  he  went  to  Con- 
stantinople with  St.  Mesrob,  and  was  much  loved  and 
esteemed  by  the  emperor  (Theodosius  II)  and  the 
court;  then  to  Persia,  where  the  king  honored  him 
and  gave  him  the  title  of  prince. 

In  439  Yazdegerd  II  of  Persia  succeeded  his  fa- 
ther, Bahram  V,  the  destroyer  of  the  Arsacid  dynasty, 
and  began  a  furious  persecution  of  both  Jews  and 
Christians,  which  lasted  a  dozen  years,  and  ended  in 
a  complete  victory  for  religious  freedom.  The  king, 
like  James  I  of  England,  fancied  himself  a  great  the- 
ologian, and  could  always  be  victorious  in  a  debate  by 
killing  his  opponent.  One  specimen  will  suffice.  He 
called  a  convocation  of  Armenian  priests  and  noble- 
men, and  commanded  them  to  embrace  fire-worship  on 
pain  of  death.  "  Your  Christ  cannot  save  you,"  said 
he,  "  for  He  is  crucified  and  dead."  "  Oh  my  gracious 
king,"  replied  a  young  nobleman,  "  why  did  you  not 
read  further  about  Christ  ?  He  was  indeed  crucified, 
but  rose  again,  ascended  to  Heaven,  and  is  living  now 
and  our  Saviour."  The  king  in  a  rage  had  his  head 
struck  off. 

Finally  in  450  the  people  of  Persian  Armenia  rose 
in  revolt,  and  determined  to  fight  for  their  religion. 
Yartan  took  command  of  them,  and  showed  himself  the 
ablest  commander  of  his  time.  For  a  year  he  held  at 
bay  the  overwhelming  forces  of  the  Persian  Empire, 
and  was  victorious  in  every  battle,  even  to  the  last, — 
a  striking  parallel  to  Judas  Maccabaeus  in  historical 


92  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

position,  as  well  as  military  ability.  Finally  the  forces 
were  arrayed  for  battle  on  tlie  banks  of  the  Dugh- 
mood  river,  in  the  plains  of  Avarayr,  near  the  present 
city  of  Van.  Yartan  had  66,000  men,  the  Persians 
several  times  as  many.  Yartan  prayed  to  God  for 
help,  and  to  Christ  for  his  own  salvation ;  then  he  made 
a  speech  to  his  soldiers,  in  substance  as  follows: — 
^*  Soldiers,  as  Christians  we  are  averse  from  fighting; 
but  to  defend  the  Christian  religion  and  our  own  free- 
dom we  have  to  fight.  Surely  our  lives  are  not  as  val- 
uable as  Christ's,  and  if  he  was  willing  to  die  on 
the  cross  for  us,  we  ought  to  be  willing  to  die  in  battle 
for  him."  Then,  with  his  troops,  he  crossed  the  river, 
fell  on  the  enemy's  center,  and  scattered  the  huge  army 
in  rout,  killing  3,544  men  besides  nine  great  princes, 
and  losing  1,036  of  his  own;  but  alas  !  one  of  these  was 
himself,  dying  from  a  mortal  wound  not  long  after. 
Nevertheless,  he  had  won  the  victory  he  was  striving 
for.  Yazdegerd  saw  it  was  impossible  to  conquer  the 
Armenians  in  a  war  for  religion,  and  granted  entire 
liberty  to  the  Christians  to  believe  and  preach  as  they 
pleased. 

ARMENIAN  LITERATURE. 
Fifth  Century. 

The  Armenian  schools  and  universities  and  their 
outpour  of  great  scholars  and  writers  have  already 
been  spoken  of,  but  of  course  Armenian  youths,  eager 
for  the  best  of  the  world's  learning,  did  not  confine 
themselves  to  their  own  country ;  they  studied  in  Con- 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  98 

stantinople,  Athens,  Antioch,  Alexandria,  and  wher- 
ever great  teachers  were  located.  All  were  zealous 
Christians,  and  the  books  they  have  left  behind  were 
Christian  literature,  not  works  of  mere  enjoyment.  A 
very  rich  and  valuable  literature  it  is,  too,  in  my  judg- 
ment the  most  so  of  any  single  body  that  exists;  though 
much  of  it  has  perished  in  the  recent  destruction  of 
everything  Christian  the  Turks  can  reach.  My 
readers  will  not  credit  my  opinion  of  it,  because  most 
of  it  has  never  been  translated,  but  that  makes  it  all 
the  more  valuable  now,  it  has  so  much  that  is  new  to 
add  to  the  stores  of  the  world.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
give  them  all,  but  to  point  out  the  chief  writers. 

The  fifth  century  is  called  the  Golden  Age  of  Ar- 
menian literature.  First  in  point  of  time  as  well 
as  importance  comes  the  Armenian  Bible.  The  furi- 
ous opposition  of  the  Church  in  the  Middle  Ages  to 
letting  the  people  have  the  Bible  to  read  in  their  own 
tongues  seems  perfectly  ridiculous,  when  we  remem- 
ber that  in  the  early  Christian  church  every  people  had 
it  in  their  own  language,  and  it  was  thought  to  be  the 
greatest  work  for  a  heathen  people  that  could  be  done, 
to  translate  the  Bible  for  them.  It  was  not  thought 
needful  then  to  keep  the  word  of  God  in  a  strange 
tongue,  so  that  the  people  could  neither  read  it  for 
themselves  nor  understand  it  when  it  was  read  to  them. 

There  were  probably  some  books  of  popular  tales 
and  songs  in  Armenia  before  the  fifth  century,  for 
we  are  told  that  there  was  an  Armenian  alphabet  to 
write  them  in  as  early  as  the  second,  but  if  so  they  have 


94  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

all  perished,  and  the  alphabet  was  doubtless  a  poor 
and  meager  one.  Armenian  scholars  and  writers  read 
Greek  or  Latin  books,  and  occasionally  Hebrew  or 
Syriac  ones,  and  wrote  in  Greek  or  Latin  themselves; 
if  it  was  necessary  to  write  Armenian,  as  in  letters, 
they  made  the  Greek,  Syriac,  or  Persian  characters, 
which  of  course  were  insufficient  to  give  the  Armenian 
sounds.  They  would  have  got  along  with  this,  how- 
ever, if  it  had  not  been  for  the  eagerness  of  Chris- 
tian enthusiasm  which  made  them  wish  to  give  the 
Bible  to  Armenia;  it  was  to  spread  the  word  of  God, 
not  to  write  books,  that  they  were  anxious.  St.  Mes- 
rob  set  to  work  and  invented  a  very  perfect  alphabet 
of  thirty-six  letters,  to  which  two  have  been  added 
since.  According  to  one  of  his  disciples,  having 
vainly  sought  help  from  the  learned,  he  prayed  to  God, 
and  received  the  new  alphabet  in  a  vision.  This  was 
about  405.  Lie  and  Saha^  the  Pontiff  at  once  began 
to  translate  the  New  Testament  and  the  Book  of  Pro- 
verbs from  a  poor  Greek  version,  the  best  they  had, 
with  the  assistance  of  two  pupils,  John  of  Eghueghi- 
atz  and  Joseph  of  Baghin.  This  was  finished  in  406. 
Many  years  later  (seemingly  about  the  time  Persian 
Armenia  was  made  a  satrapy),  they  undertook  the 
translation  of  the  Old  Testament;  but  as  the  Persians 
had  destroyed  all  the  Greek  MSS.,  it  was  necessary  to 
use  a  Syriac  version.  The  same  two  assistants  aided 
them;  but  being  sent  to  the  Council  of  Ephesus  in  431, 
they  brought  back  copies  of  the  Greek  Septuagint,  and 
the  old  translation  was  at  once  dropped,  and  a  new  one 


THE  ARIVLENIAN  DYNASTIES.  95 

put  under  way.  But  all  found  their  knowledge  of 
Greek  too  imperfect  to  rely  on,  and  the  pupils  were 
sent  to  Alexandria  and  Athens  to  complete  their  educa- 
tion ;  on  their  return  they  seem  to  have  brought  a  new 
Alexandrian  version,  and  corrections  were  made  from 
that,  and  the  work  completed,  most  likely  about  435. 

The  Bible  completed,  they  turned  to  other  labors. 
The  Saints  Sahag  and  Mesrob  are  said  to  have  written 
six  hundred  books  themselves,  all  in  Christian  theology 
and  instruction;  and  the  pupils  from  the  schools  St. 
Nierses  and  themselves  had  founded  —  the  chief  of 
their  own  were  at  ISToravank,  Ayri,  and  Vochkhoroz 
—  wrote  great  numbers  besides.  The  first  orig- 
inal work  of  Sahag  was  one  on  Pastoral  Theol- 
ogy, setting  forth  that  the  Church  of  Christ  is  the 
Bride  of  Christ,  and  the  ministers  must  therefore  be 
holy,  pure,  and  obedient.  He  wrote  many  epistles  to 
kings  and  emperors,  all  of  whom  reverenced  and  were 
greatly  influenced  by  him.  He  wrote  a  large  part  of 
the  Armenian  Church  History,  composed  many 
hymns,  and  translated  many  commentaries  and  theo- 
logical works  from  the  Greek. 

Fortunately  during  this  period  the  government  of 
Armenia  was  very  good,  with  the  exception  of  one 
period  of  two  years  or  so;  even  after  its  partition,  for 
close  on  forty  years  it  had  practically  self-government 
in  internal  affairs,  and  for  another  decade  the  Chris- 
tians enjoyed  full  rights  of  worship.  Bahram  lY  of 
Persia  (389-899),  who  helped  divide  it,  was  a  mon- 
arch who  loved  peace  above  all  things,  both  with  for- 


96  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

eign  countries  and  his  own  people;  his  successor,  Yaz- 
degerd  1  (399-420),  went  even  further,  employed  the 
Catholicos  or  Pontiff  on  embassies  to  Constantinople, 
and  as  mediator  with  his  own  brother,  and  made  his 
son,  Shahpur,  governor  of  Persian  Armenia,  con- 
tinuing the  Arsacid  dynasty.  He  was  murdered  by 
his  nobles,  instigated  by  the  Zoroastrian  priests,  for 
being  too  tolerant  to  the  Christians,  and  his  successor 
Bahram  V,  who  got  the  throne  by  favor  of  the  re- 
bellious elements,  tried  to  please  them  by  persecuting 
the  Christians;  this  involved  him  in  a  war  with  Kome, 
as  I  have  said,  and  after  a  couple  of  years  he  made 
peace  and  gave  toleration  again.  The  turning  of  Per- 
sian Armenia  into  a  satrapy  in  428  I  have  already  told; 
but  no  fresh  persecution  was  undertaken  till  that  of 
Yazdegerd  II,  in  439,  ending  in  Yartan's  revolt  just 
detailed.  Shahpur  of  Armenia  was  a  prince  of  great 
wisdom,  generosity,  and  public  spirit;  he  patronized 
men  of  learning,  founded  schools,  made  large  grants 
from  the  treasury  for  scholarship,  and  sent  scholars  to 
all  the  great  seats  of  learning  to  teach  and  acquire  the 
languages,  literature,  and  history  of  other  nations, 
after  which  they  wrote  and  translated  hundreds  of 
volumes.  Among  them  were  Tavit,  Khosrov,  Mam- 
pre,  and  Zazar;  a  great  historian,  Eghishe  (Elisaeus), 
author  of  the  Life  of  Vartan ;  and  a  great  philosopher, 
Yeznic.  These  are  only  a  few  out  of  scores  worthy 
of  mention. 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff  says : —  "  In  spite  of  the  unfa- 
vorable state  of  political  and  social  affairs  in  Armenia 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  97 

during  this  epoch,  more  than  six  hundred  Greek  and 
Syrian  works  were  translated  within  the  first  forty 
years  after  the  translation  of  the  Bible;  and  as  in 
many  cases  the  original  works  have  perished,  while 
the  translations  have  been  preserved,  the  great  im- 
portance of  this  whole  literary  activity  is  apparent. 
Among  works  which  in  this  way  have  come  down 
to  us  are  several  books  by  Philo-Alexandrinus,  on 
Providence,  on  reason,  commentaries,  etc. ;  the  Chron- 
icle of  Eusebius,  nearly  complete ;  the  epistles  of  Igna- 
tius, translated  from  a  Syrian  version;  fifteen  Homilies 
by  Severianus;  the  exegetical  writings  of  Ephraim 
Syrus,  previously  completely  unknown,  on  the  his- 
torical books  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  synoptical  gos- 
pels, the  parables  of  Jesus,  and  the  fourteen  Pauline 
epistles;  the  Hexahemeron  of  Basil  the  Great;  the  Cat- 
echesis  of  Cyril  of  Jerusalem;  several  homilies  by 
Chrysostom,  etc.  The  period,  however,  was  not  char- 
acterized by  translations  only.  Several  of  the  dis- 
ciples of  Mesrob  and  Sahak  left  original  works.  Es- 
nik  wrote  four  books  against  heretics,  printed  at 
Venice  in  1826,  and  translated  into  French  by  Le 
Vailliant  de  Florival,  Paris,  1853.  A  biography  of 
Mesrob  by  Koriun,  homilies  by  Mambres,  and  various 
writings  by  the  Philosopher  David,  have  been  pub- 
lished ;  and  the  works  of  Moses  Chorenensis,  published 
in  Venice  in  1842,  and  again  in  1864,  have  acquired  a 
wide  celebrity ;  his  history  of  Armenia  has  been  trans- 
lated into  Latin,  French,  Italian,  and  Russian." 

Sixth  Century. 
The  leading  authors  in  this  century  are  Abraham 
Mamigonian,  who  wrote  on  the  Council  of  Ephesus; 
and  Bedross  Sounian,  who  wrote  on  the  Life  of  Christ. 
There  are,  however,  many  others  of  merit. 


98  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Seventh  Century. 

By  far  the  greatest  name  in  this  century,  and  in- 
deed the  best-known  and  most  important  name  in  Ar- 
menian literature  altogether,  is  the  writer  who  calls 
himself  Movses  Khorentzi,  well  known  to  all  his- 
torical scholars  as  Moses  of  Chorene,  author  of  the 
History  of  Armenia.  For  more  than  a  thousand 
years,  up  to  this  century,  indeed,  this  was  practically 
the  only  source  of  Armenian  history  to  the  world;  the 
other  writers  were  inaccessible.  And  it  is  still  very 
valuable,  though  not  in  just  the  way  it  was  once 
thought  to  be.  It  preserves  a  vast  amount  of  Ar- 
menian tradition,  stories  and  ballads,  and  real  history, 
which  have  perished  except  for  this  work;  but  he 
seems  not  to  have  had  the  Greek  and  Latin  histories 
to  draw  from,  and  makes  a  great  many  mistakes.  He 
gives  a  life  of  himself,  and  says  he  is  writing  in  the 
fifth  century,  and  knew  Sahag  and  Mesrob  when  he 
was  young;  but  he  really  lived  in  the  seventh,  and 
wrote  history  about  the  year  640.  But  still  he  is  a 
great  writer,  and  one  of  Armenia's  literary  lights;  and 
we  do  not  need  to  claim  for  him  anything  more  than 
he  deserves. 

Besides  Movses,  the  chief  authors  were  Gomidas, 

Yezr,  Matossagha,  Krikoradour,  Hovhannes,  Yertanes, 

and  Anania.     They  wrote  chiefly  religious  books; 

but  Anania  Shiragatzi  is  the  author  of  a  valuable  work 

on  astronomy. 

Eighth  Century. 

The  leading  authors  were:  Hovhan  Imassdasser, 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  99 

Sdepannoss  Sounetzi,  and  Levont  Yeretz.    They  wrote 
hymns,  books  on  oratory,  etc. 

Ninth  Century. 

Zakaria  Shabooh,  Toonia,  Kourken,  etc. 

Tenth  Century. 

The  chief  authors  were  Anania,  Khasrov,  and 
Krikor  ^aregatzi.  The  latter  wrote  a  prayer  book 
in  ninety-five  chapters,  which  one  of  the  missionaries 
of  the  American  Board  thinks  the  best  in  the  world. 
He  says  that  only  Beecher  was  able  to  offer  such 
prayers  as  Krikor  Naregatzi. 

Eleventh  Century. 
The  leading  writers  were  Hovhannes,  Krikor,  and 
Aristagues.     In  this  century  some  of  the  best  com- 
mentaries were  written  on  the  Bible. 

Twelfth  Century. 

Leading  authors:  Verses  Shinorhali  is  the  fore- 
most of  Armenian  poets,  and  a  thoroughly  con- 
verted and  consecrated  man  of  God.  His  hymns 
were  intensely  spiritual,  and  the  Armenians  still  chant 
them  in  their  churches.  They  are  worthy  to  be  trans- 
lated into  English.  Nerses  Lampronatzi,  the  greatest 
scholar  ever  born  in  Armenia,  was  a  distinguished 
commentator  on  the  Old  Testament,  and  wrote  many 
other  books.     Another  is  Yeremia. 

Again  T  quote  from  the  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclo- 
paedia:—  "Another  flourishing  period  falls  in  the 
twelfth  century,  during  the  Rubenian  dynasty.     IN'er- 


100  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

ses  Klagensis  and  Nerses  Lambronensis  belong  to  this 
period;  also  Ignatius,  whose  commentary  to  the  Gos- 
pel of  St.  Luke  appeared  in  Constantinople  in  1735 
and  1824;  Sargis  Shnorhali,  whose  commentary  on 
the  Catholic  Epistles  was  published  in  Constantinople 
in  1743,  and  again  in  1826;  Matthew  of  Edessa,  whose 
history,  comprising  the  period  from  952  to  1132,  and 
continued  by  Gregory  the  Priest  to  1163,  contains 
many  interesting  notices  concerning  the  Crusaders; 
Samuel  Aniensis,  the  chronologist;  Michael  Syrus, 
whose  history  has  been  edited  with  a  French  transla- 
tion by  V.  Langlois,  Paris,  1864;  Mekhitar  Kosh,  of 
whom  a  hundred  and  ninety  fables  appeared  at  Venice, 
1780  and  1812.  A  most  powerful  impulse  the  Ar- 
menian literature  received  in  the  eighteenth  century 
by  the  foundation  of  the  Mekhitarist  monastery  in 
Venice,  from  whose  press  the  treasures  of  the  Ar- 
menian literature  were  spread  over  Europe,  and  new 
works,  explaining  and  completing  the  old,  were  added. 
The  Armenian  liturgy  was  published  in  1826,  the 
breviary  in  1845,  the  ritual  in  1831." 

Thikteenth  Century. 

Leading  authors : —  Krikor  Sguevratzi,  Kevork 
Sguevratzi,  Mukhitar  Anetzi,  Vanagan  Vartabed,  Var- 
tan  Vartabed,  etc.  They  wrote  histories,  commen- 
taries, etc.  As  the  Armenian  dynasties  ended  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  I  will  reserve  my  notes  on  the  later 
literature  till  towards  the  end  of  the  book. 

The  peculiar  value  of  the  Armenian  literature  is 
not  realized  as  it  should  be,  by  European  and  Ameri- 
can scholars;  the  language  is  well  worth  learning  for 
what  it  can  give  the  student.     IN'ot  alone  is  the  original 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  101 

work  that  conies  from  the  first  Ohvi^tma  Kation  sp^ 
cially  valuable  for  its  bearing  oii  primitive  Chris- 
tianity, but  the  Armenian  scholah^  translated;  ^vMi 
numbers  of  works  from  other  languages,  and  these 
translations  are  preserved  in  Armenian  monaste- 
ries when  the  originals  have  been  irretrievably  lost 
in  the  wars,  and  burnings,  and  devastations  of  other 
countries.  Six  hundred  volumes  of  this  old  literature 
are  known  to  exist  now,  two  hundred  in  Europe,  and 
four  hundred  in  different  places  in  Armenia. 

THE  ARMENIAN  CHURCH. 

The  first  thing  to  remember  about  this  is,  that  it 
is  an  independent  and  separate  body  as  much  as  the 
Greek  or  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  and  older  than 
either  of  them.  I  often  hear  such  expressions  as 
"  the  Armenian  Catholic  Church,"  and  many  people 
think  it  simply  a  "  branch  "  of  the  great  Eastern  or 
Greek  Church.  It  would  be  just  as  sensible  to  con- 
sider the  Greek  a  branch  of  the  Armenian  Church. 
Each  of  them  represents  a  form  of  church  organization 
and  body  of  doctrine  which  best  satisfied  the  repre- 
sentatives of  certain  races  or  nations ;  the  advantage  of 
the  Greek  was  that  that  race  —  or  at  least  its  speech 
and  thought  —  happened  to  be  dominant  in  the  Ro- 
man Empire  at  the  time  when  Christianity  won  the 
battle,  and  so  had  the  official  backing  of  the  em- 
pire, and  was  able  to  outgrow  and  crush  down  the 
others.  It  was  not  any  truer,  any  more  the  real 
Church  of  Christ,  than  the  Syrian  or  African  or  Ar- 


102  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

menian;  It  was  next  the  earliest,  for  the  very  first 
Christiaji .Qhurches  sprang  from  the  Jews;  it  was  not 
even  the  eaaiiest/gTGai:  national  church  body,  for  the 
Armenian  church  has  that  distinction.  It  had  the 
most  soldiers  back  of  it  to  put  down  its  opponents,  that 
is  all.  I  have  already  told  the  story  of  the  foundation 
of  the  Armenian  church  by  St.  Gregory  and  Tiridates. 
That  church  has  its  own  head  —  the  Catholicos  or  Pon- 
tiff, who  is  no  more  a  subordinate  of  either  the  Pope 
or  the  Greek  Patriarch  than  the  Grand  Llama  is,  or 
Dr.  Parkhurst  —  and  its  own  self-subsistent  being. 
-  -As  to  the  differences  between  them,  in  the  first 
place  the  Armenian  is  a  purely  Trinitarian.  There 
is  no  room  for  Unitarianism  within  its  lines.  When 
Gregory  the  Illuminator  was  preaching  his  sermons 
on  the  hills  and  plains  of  Armenia,  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  national  church  in  the  Trinity.  His  first 
sermon  was  on  the  Trinity ;  his  last  sermon  was  on  the 
Trinity.  In  all  his  sermons  he  asserted  the  Trinity, 
—  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  Jesus 
Christ  being  a  perfect  Man  and  a  perfect  God;  in  his 
person  we  see  God  in  man  and  man  in  God;  a  perfect 
Emmanuel,  God  with  us.  We  see  in  him  that  man  can 
be  united  with  God.  The  only  possible  way  of  salva- 
tion is  through  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  the  Saviour  of 
the  world  and  none  else,  and  whosoever  believeth  in 
Him  shall  be  saved.  This  is  the  belief  and  the  only  be- 
lief of  the  Armenian  Church.  Its  members  repeat 
the  Apostolic  Creed  and  the  Lord's  Prayer  every  day 
in  their  churches.     I  say  every  day  because  Armen- 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  103 

ians  go  to  church  every  day, —  twice,  morning  and 
evening,  and  three  times  on  Sunday. 

Secondly,  the  Armenian  has  never  been  a  per- 
secuting church,  and  every  other  one  of  the  great 
Christian  churches  has  been.  The  Armenian  church, 
as  befits  the  first  and  most  Christ-like  of  all  the  bodies 
that  professed  Christ  before  Luther's  time,  has  always 
been  the  broadest,  the  most  inclusive,  the  most  un- 
technical  of  churches.  It  fellowships  with  all  other 
churches.  It  demands  only  that  men  shall  profess 
and  believe  in  Christ,  and  live  Christian  lives ;  not  that 
one  shall  belong  to  its  own  church  body.  Its  canons 
are  conversion  and  regeneration,  purity,  holiness,  being 
bom  again  from  the  Holy  Spirit  and  becoming  Christ- 
like. It  holds  that  Christianity  is  brotherhood 
through  Jesus  Christ,  and  gives  no  warrant  for  op- 
pression or  persecution,  curses  or  anathemas.  I  need 
hardly  say  that  it  is  alone  in  this  of  the  older  churches. 
The  others  hold  that  no  one  can  be  saved  outside  of 
their  own  bodies;  hence  they  fulminate  anathemas 
against  all  others,  and  have  the  anathemas  read  in 
their  churches,  and  they  persecute  others  to  compel 
them  to  join  themselves,  or  rid  the  world  of  a  possible 
danger  that  their  own  members  may  be  tolled  outside. 
The  Greek  Church,  where  it  has  full  power,  will  not 
even  allow  people  of  other  creeds  to  come  into  its  coun- 
try;  for  example,  in  Croatia  a  Protestant  is  not  allowed 
to  live  there  at  all,  and  the  people  said  in  the  Hungar- 
ian Diet  that  "  intolerance  was  the  most  precious  of 
their  rights."     The  Russian  Greek  Church  will  not 


104  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

permit  a  Protestant  missionary  in  Kussia.  Where  the 
Koman  Catholic  power  is  complete,  it  is  just  as  intoler- 
ant. The  Armenian  church  has  been  repeatedly  per- 
secuted by  both,  and  has  always  protested  against  the 
principle  of  it,  as  well  as  against  the  pretensions  of 
the  Popes  to  universal  sway.  It  is  fairly  entitled  to  be 
called  the  first  Protestant  Church. 

That  the  Armenian  contention  is  for  freedom  of 
will,  freedom  of  conscience,  freedom  of  worship,  and 
political  freedom,  is  the  cause  of  their  being  hated 
both  by  the  Mohammedans  and  by  their  so-called  Chris- 
tian neighbors;  but  it  ought  to  be  also  a  reason  why 
Americans,  who  believe  in  these  things  themselves, 
should  sympathize  with  us.  If  the  Armenians  would 
accept  Mohammedanism,  would  the  Turks  persecute 
them  ?  Xo.  If  they  would  accept  Koman  Catholic- 
ism would  the  Turks  persecute  them  ?  No,  for  the 
Catholic  states  would  not  permit  it.  If  they  would 
accept  the  Greek  Church,  would  the  Turks  persecute 
them  ?  No,  for  Eussia  would  not  permit  it.  But  j,s 
they  are  an  independent  church  the  others  are  in- 
terested in  persecuting  them,  and  nobody  is  interested 
in  defending  them.  If  there  is  any  help  to  come  to 
them  it  will  not  be  from  the  old  churches  of  Europe, 
but  from  Protestant  Anglo-Saxons  helping  their  spirit- 
ual brethren,  the  Anglo-Saxons  of  the  East;  and  it 
will  be  found,  when  the  great  battle  comes,  that  the 
Slavonic,  Greek,  and  Catholic  churches  will  be  on  the 
side  of  the  Mohammedans  against  the  Armenian  Chris- 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  105 

tiaiis.     But  that  battle  will  come,  and  the  victory  will 
be  on  the  side  of  freedom  and  righteousness. 

As  to  theological  questions,  the  Armenian  Church  ) 
fathers  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  them.  Not  be- 
cause they  were  not  able,  but  because  they  were  too 
able,  and  very  far-sighted.  They  knew  well  that  such 
questions  can  never  be  solved,  no  matter  how  many 
centuries  pass  away,  no  matter  how  great  scholars 
the  world  produces;  therefore  they  would  not  enter 
into  the  debate.  And  so  every  Armenian  scholar  has 
his  own  theology.  I  confess  that  the  Armenian 
Church  has  not  a  theology,  or  an  especial  official  doc- 
trine; and  this  is  a  very  fortunate  thing  for  the  Ar- 
menians. They  care  more  for  righteousness  of  life 
than  for  particular  beliefs  about  the  way  of  getting 
it.  When  there  was  a  great  controversy  in  the  Coun- 
cil of  Chalcedon,  451  A.  D.,  about  the  nature  of  Christ, 
Armenians  did  not  care  about  it.  Some  of  the  great 
theologians  said  Christ  had  two  natures;  some  said  he 
had  only  one  nature;  the  Armenian  bishops  would 
not  give  any  opinion.  They  believe  in  Christ  as  their 
Saviour,  that  is  the  essential  thing;  but  whether  He 
has  two  natures  or  one  nature  is  not  essential.  Then 
came  the  controversy  about  the  Holy  Spirit.  Whence 
does  the  Holy  Spirit  proceed  ?  Some  say  from  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  some  simply  from  the  Father. 
When  the  question  came  before  the  Armenian  bishops 
they  replied  that  they  did  not  care  whence  He  pro- 
ceeds. They  know  that  they  need  the  Holy  Spirit 
for  guidance  in  spiritual  life,  for  regeneration;  they 


106  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

know  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  one  of  the  persons  in  the 
Trinity;  and  that  is  enough  for  them. 

No\v  I  would  ask,  do  the  theologians  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  agree  on  such  questions,  or  any  other 
theological  question  ?  x\re  the  theologians  of  the 
coming  centuries  going  to  agree  on  them  ?  I  leave 
this  to  the  scholars  of  Europe  and  America.  I  sim- 
ply state  that  I  studied  in  three  different  theological 
seminaries  in  America;  first  in  Oberlin,  in  1880;  sec- 
ond in  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  in 
1881;  and  finally  I  was  graduated  from  the  Chicago 
Theological  Seminary.  But  I  never  saw  a  theologian 
who  could  agree  with  any  other,  and  have  no  hope 
ever  to  see  any  such.  President  Fairchild  of  Oberlin 
differed  from  Professor  Shedd  of  New  York,  and  Pro- 
fessor Boardman  of  Chicago  did  not  agree  with  either 
of  them;  and  I  never  agreed  with  any  of  them,  and  as 
an  Armenian  I  have  my  own  theology.  So  every 
reader  of  this  book  will  see  that  the  Armenian  scholars 
had  the  best  judgment,  far-sightedness,  and  common 
sense  of  those  in  any  or  all  the  communions.  In- 
stead of  theological  controversies,  they  preached  the 
gospel  and  reached  the  masses,  for  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ. 

THE  ARMENIAN  CLERGY. 

The  Armenian  clergy  are  divided  into  three 
classes:  the  pastor,  the  preacher,  and  the  presiding 
bishop.  The  pastor  is  called  Yeretz,  the  preacher  is 
called  Yartabed,  and  the  presiding  bishop  is  called 
Yebisgobos  (Episcopus).     The  presiding  bishop  or- 


-  THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  107 

(lains  the  preacher  and  the  teacher.  The  Armenians 
believe  in  apostolic  succession,  and  they  believe  in 
immersion.  Baptism  can  be  administered  both  to 
grown  people  and  to  children,  if  they  are  the  children 
of  members  of  the  church ;  but  always  by  immersion, 
and  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  If  you  unite  the  present  Episcopal 
church  with  the  Baptist,  you  will  make  an  Armenian 
church.  All  the  clergy  of  the  Armenian  church, 
bishops,  preachers,  and  teachers,  were  married  in 
the  early  centuries.  Gregory  the  Illuminator,  the 
first  bishop  of  Armenia,  was  married.  His  sons  were 
bishops,  and  were  married.  There  was  no  church  law 
whatever  against  marriage  of  the  clergy.  At  present 
the  bishop  and  the  preacher,  or  the  Yebisgobos  and  the 
Vartabed,  cannot  marry,  but  the  pastor  or  Yeretz 
must  be  married.  Xo  Armenian  pastor  can  be  or- 
dained if  he  is  not  married. 

Of  course  I  am  not  writing  here  an  Armenian 
church  history;  the  main  object  in  writing  this  book 
is  to  inform  the  American  public  about  the  causes  of 
the  atrocities,  and  the  atrocities  themselves.  There- 
fore I  consider  the  above  information  about  the  Ar- 
menian church  enough;  but  I  will  add  that  the  Ar- 
menian church  until  the  twelfth  century  was  as  sim- 
ple in  ceremonial  as  any  American  Protestant  church 
is  to-day.  But  when  their  kingdom  was  coming  to  an 
end,  and  they  were  in  a  life-and-death  struggle  with 
the  Mohammedan  powers,  Popes  Innocent,  Benedict, 
and  others  promised  to  help  them  if  they  would  ac- 


108  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

cept  some  of  the  Roman  doctrines  and  ritual;  and 
since  that  time  —  the  twelfth  century  —  there  has 
been  more  or  less  similarity  in  the  ceremonial  of  the 
two  churches.  But  Armenians  have  never  believed  in 
the  Pope,  and  now  they  are  getting  rid  of  the  Roman 
ritual  also,  as  it  is  foreign  to  them. 

Before  I  finish  this  subject,  I  must  give  a  little 
information  about  the  Armenian  Patriarch  in  Con- 
stantinople, and  the  Armenian  Catholicos  of  Etch- 
miazin.  There  are  many  people  in  this  country  who 
do  not  know  the  difference  between  the  Patriarch  and 
the  Catholicos.  The  difference  between  them  is  as  fol- 
lows: The  Patriarch  at  Constantinople  has  nothing 
to  do  with  religion,  though  he  is  a  bishop.  As  a  per- 
sonal bishop,  he  goes  to  the  church,  and  occasionally 
preaches  and  leads  the  pastors,  but  his  duty  is  political. 
He  is  the  political  head  of  the  Armenians  in  Con- 
stantinople, and  responsible  to  the  Sultan  for  the  Ar- 
menian nation  who  live  in  Turkey.  The  Armenians 
are  not  anxious  to  have  such  a  political  head ;  it  is  sim- 
ply the  wish  of  the  Sultan,  or  it  has  been  the  wishes  of 
the  Sultans  in  centuries  gone  by.  The  present  Patri- 
arch, Right  Rev.  Bishop  Izmirlian,  is  a  very  learned, 
experienced,  and  eloquent  bishop.  He  is  very  popu- 
lar; the  whole  Armenian  nation  love  and  esteem  him; 
but  the  Sultan  hates  him,  because  lie  is  brave,  honest, 
and  true.  The  Sultan  ordered  him  to  send  out  false 
reports,  alleging  that  the  Armenians  were  not  being 
massacred,  but  were  safe  and  prospering  under  Abdul 
Hamid's  reign ;  but  the  Patriarch  refused  to  issue  any 


\ 


1 


THE  ARMENIAN  PATRIARCH. 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  109 

such  documents  while  in  fact  the  Armenians  were 
being  phmdered,  tortured,  outraged,  and  killed.  The 
Patriarch's  life  is  consequently  in  great  danger,  but  the 
Patriarch  says  that  if  it  is  necessary  to  sacrifice  his  life 
for  his  beloved  nation,  he  is  ready  to  die. 
<^  The  Armenian  Catholicos  is  the  spiritual  head  of 
the  Armenian  church;  he  has  nothing  to  do  with 
politics.  He  is  considered  to  be  fallible,  and  he  is 
elected  both  by  bishops  and  laymen;  and  if  the  na- 
tion is  not  satisfied  with  him,  they  may  remove  him 
and  elect  another.  He  is  a  presiding  bishop.  He 
lives  at  Etchmiazin  (the  former  Vagharshabad)  north 
of  Mt.  Ararat  in  Russia;  it  has  been  the  seat  of  the 
Pontiff  since  the  time  of  St.  Gregory.  The  present 
Catholicos  is  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Mugurditch  Kirimian. 
He  is  very  much  esteemed  and  loved  by  the  Armenians 
throughout  the  world.  Before  he  became  Catholicos, 
he  was  Patriarch  in  Constantinople,  and  was  the  most 
popular  and  the  ablest  of  Patriarchs,  but  the  present 
Sultan  of  course  hated  him,  and  according  to  stories 
I  heard  from  good  authority,  when  I  was  in  Constan- 
tinople, tried  repeatedly  to  kill  him.  One  day  he 
was  summoned  to  the  palace  to  see  the  Sultan ;  but  on 
arriving  there,  was  instead  locked  into  a  room  w^ith  a 
brazier  of  burning  charcoal,  and  left  to  die.  Before 
it  was  too  late,  however,  the  Russian  Ambassador, 
being  informed  of  the  attempt,  saved  his  life.  Fail- 
ing to  get  rid  of  him  that  way,  the  Sultan  banished 
him  to  Jerusalem,  but  sent  false  reports  to  the  news- 
papers, that  he  thought  highly  of  the  Patriarch,  and 


110  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

had  given  him  money  to  go  to  Jerusalem  that  he 
might  improve  his  health  and  enjoy  himself.  The 
Sultan  lives  and  breathes  falsehood. 

While  in  Jerusalem,  Kirimian  was  shadowed  by 
the  Sultan's  detectives;  but  about  three  years  ago  he 
was  elected  Catholicos  by  the  Armenians,  and  the  Rus- 
sian  Czar  (not  the  present  one,  but  his  father,  Alex- 
ander), sanctioned  his  election.  The  Armenians  are 
proud  of  him,  for  he  is  worthy  of  his  office.  He  is  a 
great  scholar,  and  the  author  of  several  books  which 
are  worthy  of  translation  into  English.  His  book 
Traghti  Endanik  (the  family  of  Paradise),  is  the  best 
book  I  ever  saw  or  read  in  any  language  on  family 
life.  In  it  he  describes  the  first  holy  family,  which 
was  created  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  in  Armenia,  and 
then  goes  on  to  describe  a  holy  family,  the  ideal  fam- 
ily, a  true  home.  It  is  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Cath- 
olicos Kirimian  was  married  and  had  a  family,  and 
really  his  family  was  a  holy  family  and  he  had  an 
ideal  home, —  therefore  Armenians  call  him  Kirimian 
Hayrig  or  "father,''  and  he  is  worthy  of  the  title; 
but  his  ^vife  died.  He  is  also  a  great  ora- 
tor, preaching  fiery  gospel  sermons  as  our  great- 
est revivalists  preach  them.  He  loved  the  Am- 
erican missionaries  in  Constantinople,  and  they 
returned  the  feeling.  Kirimian  was  born  in  Van 
April  16,  1820;  therefore  he  is  now  T6  years  old,  but 
full  of  life  and  vigor.  I  hope  he  will  live  longer,  to 
see  his  beloved  nation  and  country  saved  from  the 
oppressions  of  the  cruel  Turkish  Sultan.     I  could 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  HI 

write  a  book  on  the  life  of  Kirimian  and  his  great 
deeds  in  Armenia,  for  the  Armenians ;  how  he  opened 
schools  and  established  printing  presses;  how  he  went 
to  the  Congress  in  Berlin  and  championed  the  Armen- 
ian cause;  and  all  his  noble  works.  But  this  is  not 
the  place. 

THE  PAKRADOONIAN  DYNASTY. 
For  a  century  after  the  Mohammedan  conquest 
of  Persia,  the  fortunes  of  Armenia  were  apparently  at 
their  lowest  ebb,  and  as  a  country  it  almost  disappears 
from  history;  but  by  one  of  the  compensations  of  na- 
ture, which  provides  that  human  force,  like  other 
force,  cannot  be  extinguished,  but  if  suppressed  will 
find  an  outlet  elsew^here,  its  people  began  a  career  of 
brilliancy  and  power  unequaled  in  its  history,  and 
broadened  from  the  rule  of  a  tormented  buffer-state 
to  that  of  the  great  Byzantine  Empire  itself.  The 
Saracen  torrent  flowed  over  Armenia's  lowlands  and 
up  to  the  base  of  its  mountain  fortresses,  but  never 
overcame  them;  generation  after  generation  the  con- 
tending forces  battled  together,  surging  back  and  forth, 
and  filling  the  beautiful  valleys  with  fire  and  blood, 
but  Armenia  proper  was  never  added  to  the  list  of 
Saracen  conquests,  never  made  a  part  of  the  Moham- 
medan Empire  or  strengthened  Mohammedanism 
till  four  centuries  later  through  Byzantine' greed  and 
folly.  Internally  it  was  all  in  feudal  anarchy  again 
so  far,  as  concerned  any  one  central  focus  of  gov- 
ernment. Even  the  Persian  satraps  had  gone  from 
the  Persian  side,  and  with  them  the  half-control  they 


112       ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

had  kept  over  the  turbulent  baronage;  on  the  Roman 
side  from  early  in  the  seventh  century  to  early  in  the 
eighth,  the  throne  of  Constantinople  was  filled  with 
weak  and  unstable  monarchs,  fighting  for  Anatolia 
against  the  Saracens,  and  unable  to  exercise  any  ef- 
fective control  over  Armenia,  to  which  indeed  they 
looked  as  a  frontier  defense  against  those  very  foes. 

But  let  us  not  attach  too  harsh  a  meaning  to  ^'  an- 
archy." There  were  a  hundred  rulers,  it  is  true,  great 
dukes  and  barons,  each  supreme  in  his  own  district; 
but  because  they  held  power  by  the  sword  against  a 
savage  enemy,  their  subjects  had  to  be  a  strong,  inde- 
pendent race,  with  arms  in  their  hands,  which  they 
would  use  against  their  chiefs  as  well  as  the  foreign- 
ers if  there  was  great  oppression.  In  this  fiery  school, 
Armenia  learned  the  sternest  lessons  of  self-help  and 
discipline.  With  no  interference  from  outsiders  to 
fear,  and  no  help  from  them  to  be  got,  it  became  even 
more  confirmed  in  its  own  independent  isolated  ways, 
a  world  to  itself  as  it  has  been  ever  since.  Its  culti- 
^ators  tilled  their  fields  as  they  had  done  for  so  many 
centuries,  and  its  scholars  read  such  books  as  they 
had,  and  wrote  such  as  their  own  minds  furnished. 
'But  vast  numbers  of  its  hardy  sons  took  service  in 
the  Greek  armies,  and  became  the  bone  and  sinew  of 
the  defense  of  Asia  Minor  against  the  caliphs ;  not  only 
so,  but  they  rose  by  hundreds  to  the  highest  commands 
in  the  empire,  both  civil  and  military.  They  formed 
the  best  "  society  "  in  Constantinople  itself;  and  to 
crown  all,  a  score  of  emperors  and  empresses  in  four 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  113 

different  lines,  including  the  most  illustrious  ones  that 
ever  sat  on  the  throne  from  Constantine  down,  and 
who  ruled  the  empire  for  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven  years,  were  Armenians. 

It  is  within  the  truth,  and  can  be  justified  from  the 
greatest  of  English  historians,  to  say  that  for  four 
centuries  the  Byzantine  Empire  was  not  a  Greek  but 
an  Armenian  empire.  Armenians  by  blood  filled  all 
the  great  offices  of  state,  commanded  the  armies,  occu- 
pied the  throne  for  nearly  three  hundred  years,  pre- 
served the  empire  from  external  invasion  and  internal 
disintegration.  It  was  the  accession  of  an  Armenian 
dynasty  that  turned  it  from  a  decaying  power  to  one 
that  expanded  steadily  for  two  centuries,  from  one 
falling  into  anarchy  to  one  the  glory  of  the  world  for 
scientific  organizations;  and  it  was  the  final  overthrow 
of  Armenian  influence  that  ruined  the  empire,  being 
followed  almost  at  once  by  the  loss  of  half  its  territory 
and  the  richest  part,  and  the  break-up  of  its  system  of 
civil  administration.  Everywhere  in  the  time  of 
Byzantine  glory  you  find  the  list  full  of  Armenian 
names.  The  appearance  of  "  Bardas  "  as  the  name  of 
generals  or  civil  magnates  is  always  proof  of  Ar- 
menian blood,  and  that  name  is  monotonously  com- 
mon; it  is  the  Greek  form  of  "  Vartan,*^  though  now 
and  then  they  make  it  "  Bardanes.''  One  of  the 
greatest  conquerors  in  Byzantine  history,  John  Kur- 
kuas,  was  an  Armenian,  from  a  family  which  sup- 
plied three  generations  of  statesmen  and  generals,  and 

two  great  emperors.     And  this  is  part  of  what  the 
8 


114  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

immortal  historian  of  "  Greece  Under  Foreign  Dom- 
ination/' George  Finlay,  has  to  say: — 

"  At  the  accession  of  Leo  III  (717),  the  Hellenic 
race  occupied  a  very  subordinate  position  in  the  em- 
pire. The  predominant  influence  in  the  political  ad- 
ministration ^yas  in  the  hands  of  Asiatics,  and  par- 
ticularly of  Armenians,  who  filled  the  highest  mili- 
tary commands.  Of  the  numerous  rebels  who  as- 
sumed the  title  of  emperor,  the  greater  part  were  Ar- 
menians. Artabasdos,  who  rebelled  against  his  broth- 
er, Constantine  V,  was  an  Armenian.  Alexios  Mou- 
sel,  strangled  by  order  of  Constantine  VI,  in  the 
year  790;  Bardan  called  the  Turk,  who  rebelled 
against  Mcephorus  I;  Arsaber  [Arshavir]  the 
father-in-law  of  Leo  V,  convicted  of  treason  in 
808;  and  Thomas,  who  revolted  against  Mich- 
ael II,  were  all  Asiatics,  and  most  of  them  Ar- 
menians. Many  of  the  Armenians  in  the  Byzan- 
tine Empire  belonged  to  the  oldest  and  most  illustrious 
families  in  the  Christian  world;  and  their  connection 
mth  the  remains  of  Roman  society  at  Constantinople, 
in  which  the  pride  of  birth  was  cherished,  was  a  proof 
that  Asiatic  influence  had  eclipsed  Roman  and  Greek 
in  the  government  of  the  empire.  An  amazing  in- 
stance of  the  influence  of  Asiatic  prejudices  at  Con- 
stantinople will  appear  in  the  eagerness  displayed  by 
Basil  I,  a  Sclavonian  groom  from  Macedonia,  to  claim 
descent  from  the  Armenian  royal  family."  (But  I 
shall  show  that  he  was  an  Armenian.) 

Let  us  note  the  Armenian  sovereigns  of  the 
Byzantine  Empire.  First  the  great  Iconoclast  house, 
of  Leo  the  so-called  Isaurian,  the  saviour  and  restorer 
of  the  empire,  which  reigned  from  716  to  797.  Leo 
considered  himself  an  Armenian,  and  he  ought  to  have 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  115 

known  best,  and  he  married  his  daughter  to  an  Ar- 
menian, lie  saved  Constantinople  from  capture  by 
the  Saracens,  causing  the  destruction  of  the  linest 
Mohammedan  army  ever  got  together;  of  its  180,000 
men  only  30,000  got  back  home,  according  to  the 
Mohammedan  historians.  Twenty-two  years  later 
another  great  Moslem  army  was  annihilated  by  Leo, 
and  for  two  centuries  the  Saracens  scarcely  troubled 
the  empire  again.  But  not  only  so,  he  remodeled  the 
whole  administration  so  effectively  that  no  serious 
break-down  occurred  for  three  centuries,  and  he  put 
new  life  into  the  whole  society,  so  that  it  began  to 
outgrow  its  enemies,  as  well  as  outfight  them.  After 
his  able  dynasty  ended,  another  Armenian,  Leo  Y, 
reigned  seven  and  a  half  years,  from  813  to  820. 
About  half  a  century  later  began  the  Basilian  dy- 
nasty, under  which  the  laws  were  codified,  and  Bul- 
garia destroyed.  Basil  was  born  in  Macedonia,  but 
the  name  of  his  brother,  Symbatios,  Armenian  Simpad, 
shows  that  he  was  of  an  Armenian  family,  the  col- 
onies of  Armenians  having  spread  all  over  the  civilized 
world.  His  line  reigned  without  a  break  from  867 
to  963,  when  the  beautiful  widows  Theophano  was 
pushed  aside  for  sixteen  years  by  another  Armenian 
house,  !N^ikephoros  Phokas  and  his  nephew  John  Zim- 
iskes,  two  of  the  ablest  generals  and  statesmen  ever  on 
the  throne,  descendants  of  a  brother  of  the  great  com- 
mander, John  Kurkuas,  before  spoken  of;  then  Theo- 
phano's  son,  Basil  II  —  Boulgaroktonos,  the  Bulga- 
rian slayer,  and  the  ultimate  destroyer  of  Armenia  as 


116  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

well  —  took  the  throne,  979,  and  the  dynasty  con- 
tinued till  1057,  when  it  had  run  to  dregs,  and  had 
just  before  finally  ruined  Armenia,  and  by  so  doing 
ruined  the  empire. 

To  go  back  to  Armenia  itself.  The  reason  a  feu- 
dal anarchy  always  ends  in  a  military  monarchy,  no 
matter  how  able  or  self-willed  every  one  of  the  sepa- 
rate chiefs  may  be,  is  that  this  very  class  most  in- 
terested in  perpetuating  it  grow  weary  of  it.  The 
stronger  barons  oppress  and  plunder  the  weaker,  who 
are  always  superior  in  numbers,  and  in  united  strength 
if  they  will  act  together.  A  small  lord  may  like  to 
be  free  from  control  by  the  king's  officers  as  well  as 
a  great  one ;  but  if  he  can  only  have  that  privilege  by 
letting  his  overbearing  neighbor  be  free  from  it  too, 
and  rob  him,  he  finds  it  does  not  pay,  and  sighs  for  a 
law  that  will  control  everyone  alike,  and  a  strong  ruler 
to  enforce  it.  So  if  a  chief  in  such  a  community  comes 
to  be  known  as  having  a  hard  hand  and  letting  no  one 
be  above  the  law  but  himself,  the  small  landholders 
flock  under  his  banner;  he  grows  into  a  prince,  and 
eventually  some  prince  of  such  a  family  will  make 
himself  king,  with  the  goodwill  and  help  of  all  but  a 
few  great  houses,  who  feel  able  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves and  desirous  of  taking  care  of  others. 

This  happened  in  Armenia.  In  743,  a  century 
after  the  battle  of  l^ehavend  and  four  years  after  Leo's 
crushing  defeat  of  the  second  great  Saracen  army,  we 
find  that  a  chief  named  A  shod,  of  the  family  of  Pak- 
rad  or  Bagrat,  claiming  descent  from  the  ancient  Jews 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  117 

(see  the  Haigian  dynasty  in  this  book),  had  man- 
aged to  win  control  over  central  and  northern  Ar- 
menia; how  long  it  had  been  exercised,  or  what  it 
grew  from,  no  one  knows.  Ashod  I  is  the  first  known 
founder  of  the  Pakradoonian  dynasty,  though  it  is 
counted  as  beginning  from  the  recognition  of  its  in- 
dependence by  the  caliphs  over  a  century  later.  He 
recovered  some  parts  of  Armenia  proper,  and  fought 
hard  for  Lesser  Armenia.  The  family  had  vigorous 
blood  in  it,  and  somewhere  in  the  ninth  century  —  885 
is  the  date  fixed  —  it  was  recognized  by  the  caliphs  as 
an  independent  house  of  kings,  and  Armenia  as  a  king- 
dom. But  it  had  really  been  so  for  over  a  hundred 
years  before. 

Ashod  II,  "  the  Iron,"  gained  his  title  from  his 
stern  military  power;  he  beat  back  the  Arabs  and  gave 
the  land  peace  for  a  considerable  time.  He  left  no 
son,  and  his  Jbrother  Appas  succeeded  him;  another 
brave  and  wise  ruler,  who  brought  back  the  Armen- 
ian captives  held  in  bondage  by  the  Saracens.  He 
made  the  city  of  Kars  his  capital.  It  is  now  owned  by 
Russia,  having  been  captured  by  her  forces  in  the 
Russo-Turkish  war  of  1878.  He  greatly  improved 
the  city,  and  built  a  beautiful  cathedral  there.  After 
a  reign  of  twenty-four  years  he  died  in  peace,  and  his 
son  succeeded  him  as  Ashod  III. 

This  was  the  glory  of  the  line  in  prowess  and  gen- 
erosity; he  reminds  one  of  Alfred  the  Great,  in  Eng- 
land. He  was  the  terror  of  In's  country's  enemies; 
not  one  of  them  —  Arab,  Oroek,  or  Persian  —  dared 


118  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

to  invade  Armenia,  and  they  sent  presents  to  conciliate 
his  friendship.  It  was  under  him  that  the  country  be- 
came formally  independent  again.  He  filled  it  with 
fortified  places.  He  gave  all  his  personal  income  in 
charity,  and  established  almshouses  and  state  chari- 
ties. He  was  so  benevolent  and  so  interested  in  the 
destitute  that  he  was  called  The  Merciful.  He  ruled 
over  Armenia  twenty-six  years,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  Simpad.  This  was  neither  a  good  man  nor 
good  ruler;  corrupt,  cruel,  and  ambitious  only  for 
selfish  purposes.  He  made  the  city  of  Ani,  on  the 
north  side  of  Mt.  Ararat,  the  royal  capital,  built  strong 
walls  and  lofty  towers  around  it,  and  is  said  to  have 
erected  1001  churches  in  it  —  which  he  might  do,  and 
still  be  a  bad  man.  The  extent  of  its  still  existing 
ruins  of  palaces,  churches,  towers,  and  castles  testifies 
that  it  was  one  of  the  great  cities  of  the  world,  like 
Babylon  and  Antioch. 

For  more  than  a  century  Armenia  flourished  and 
grew  rich;  then  it  disappeared  once  more  under  the 
hammer  and  anvil  of  Byzantine  and  Saracen,  aided  by 
internal  disruption  —  the  traitorousness  of  its  great 
nobles,  who  hated  the  kings  for  controlling  their  law- 
lessness. Let  us  take  in  just  its  situation.  It  included 
the  heart  of  the  Armenian  highlands;  but  it  had  not 
the  extent  of  old  Armenia,  several  Armenian  districts 
being  independent  of  it,  and  either  free  or  tributary  to 
the  Byzantine  Empire.  Ani  was  its  seat;  but  the  dis- 
trict around  Kars,  fifty  miles  northwest,  had  split  off 
into  a  separate  principality,  the  boundary  between  the 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  119 

two  being  the  Aras;  on  the  east  was  Vaspourakan, 
another  princedom;  on  the  west  Sebaste,  anotlier;  on 
the  north  Iberia,  and  Abkhasia  or  Abasgia  or  Albania, 
the  reahns  of  the  Georgians;  and  one  or  two  others  not 
quite  certain, —  but  all  these  ruled  by  Armenian 
princes,  mostly  of  the  Pakradoonian  house.  Though 
Armenia  was  in  fragments,  therefore,  the  pieces 
formed  a  sort  of  family  confederacy,  and  often  acted 
together,  as  they  did  to  their  eventual  ruin.  Their 
folly  paved  the  way  for  the  destruction  of  Armenian 
national  existence,  and  the  worse  folly  of  a  Byzan- 
tine emperor  accomplished  it.  About  1020  the  Sel- 
juk  Turks  were  pressing  so  hard  on  Vaspourakan  that 
the  prince,  Sennacherib,  was  unable  to  hold  out,  and 
ceded  his  dominion  to  Basil  II  of  Constantinople  in 
return  for  the  sovereignty  of  Sebaste,  which  he  agreed 
to  hold  as  a  Byzantine  governor;  great  numbers  of 
his  subjects  went  with  him.  Something  about  this 
transaction  roused  the  Armenian  national  feeling  to 
resentment;  for  John  Simpad,  king  of  Armenia 
(known  at  this  time  as  the  Kingdom  of  Ani,  from  its 
capital),  joined  with  George  the  Pakradoonian  kinj]j 
of  Iberia,  to  promise  help  to  a  couple  of  discontented 
generals,  one  at  least  an  Armenian,  who  were  to  raise 
the  standard  of  revolt  in  Cappadocia  and  call  on  all 
Armenians  to  rise.  It  was  to  have  been  a  general  re- 
volt of  all  eastern  Asia  Minor.  But  the  mighty  Basil, 
conqueror  of  Bulgaria,  and  nearing  the  end  of  his  half- 
century's  reign,  first  crushed  the  rebellion  by  buying 
up  one  of  the  generals  and  getting  him  to  assassinate 


120  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

the  other  (the  Armenian),  and  then  crushed  the  league 
of  Bagratian  kings.  The  king  of  Armenia,  as  the 
price  of  retaining  his  throne,  was  compelled  to  sign  a 
treaty  ceding  the  kingdom  to  the  Byzantine  Empire 
after  his  death. 

John  Simpad  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew  Kakig, 
an  able  ruler  and  good  general.  But  in  1042  there  was 
placed  on  the  Byzantine  throne  the  fourth  husband 
of  the  despicable  old  female  (Zoe),  whose  male  crea- 
tures, married  or  not  married  to  her,  misgoverned 
the  empire  for  nearly  thirty  years.  The  reign  of  Con- 
stantine  Monomachos  stands  out  black  in  the  history 
of  the  world;  it  not  only  destroyed  Armenia,  but  it 
fatally  wounded  the  Greek  Empire;  it  gave  Asia 
Minor  to  the  Turks;  it  was  the  first  great  step  towards 
subjecting  Eastern  Christianity  to  the  Mohammedans; 
it  began  the  Eastern  Question.  The  sack  of  Constan- 
tinople by  the  Turks,  four  centuries  later,  was  directly 
due  to  it.  Almost  never  has  sheer  contemptible  neg- 
ative  good-for-nothingness  produced  such  awful  re- 
sults. He  was  a  worthless  man  and  an  utterly  incap- 
able statesman;  a  libertine  without  decency,  a  spend- 
thrift without  generosity  or  taste,  a  ruler  without  sense 
of  responsibility.  Having  spent  on  debauchery  or  his 
favorites,  or  diversions,  or  palaces  in  Constantinople, 
or  other  selfish,  short-sighted  gratifications,  or  on  the 
church  to  win  its  indulgence  for  them,  all  the  money 
he  could  wring  from  his  subjects  without  risking  his 
throne,  he  bethought  himself  of  another  resource. 
The  provinces  on  the  frontiers  of  Iberia,  Armenia, 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  121 

and  Syria,  were  exempted  from  taxation,  and  the  small 
dependent  states  in  that  region  from  tribute,  in  con- 
sideratioD  of  maintaining  bodies  of  militia  to  defend 
their  territories,  and  save  the  central  government  from 
keeping  regular  troops  there.  The  emperor  ordered 
the  militia  disbanded,  and  the  taxes  and  tribute  col- 
lected and  remitted  to  Constantinople  as  from  other 
places.  This  monstrous  piece  of  imbecility  laid  the 
southeastern  frontier  open  to  the  Turks  at  once;  and 
the  money  was  quickly  wasted  in  the  emperor's  pleas- 
ures. But  even  this  was  not  enough,  and  he  cast  his 
eyes  on  Armenia  as  a  rich  country  to  squeeze  taxes 
out  of,  and  sent  word  to  Kakig  to  fulfill  his  uncle's  will, 
and  yield  up  his  kingdom.  Kakig  refused.  Con- 
stantino formed  an  alliance  with  the  Saracen  emir  of 
Tovin  (on  the  east  flank  of  Armenia),  and  sent  an 
army  to  attack  Ani;  and  a  number  of  the  great  Ar- 
menian nobles  turned  traitors  and  joined  the  Byzan- 
tine forces.  Kakig  could  not  make  head  against  the 
three  allies  with  the  slender  forces  left  him ;  and  choos- 
ing to  yield  to  Christians  rather  than  Saracens,  though 
Constantino  evidently  had  no  such  scruples,  surren- 
dered Ani  to  the  imperial  forces  (1045),  and  went  to 
Constantinople  to  plead  his  cause  with  the  emperor. 
Constantino  would  not  yield,  and  Kakig  resigned  his 
kingship  for  a  magistracy,  and  large  estates  in  Cappa- 
docia.  The  emperor  forced  the  Catholicos  to  leave 
Ani  and  live  at  Arzen,  then  at  Constantinople;  finally 
the  Comnenian  house  allowed  him  to  settle  in  Sebaste 
among  his  people.       The  princedom  of  Kars  alone 


/ 


122  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

preserved  its  independence  against  both.  Christians 
and  Saracens,  and  thus  the  Armenian  life  still  beat; 
but  as  a  kingdom,  Armenia  perished  and  the  Pakra- 
doonian  dynasty  with  it  when  Ani  surrendered. 

This  piece  of  wanton  foolishness  and  criminality 
had  its  immediate  reward;  it  laid  all  Asia  Minor  open 
to  the  Turks  —  for  the  Armenians  after  they  had  lost 
their  independence  would  not  fight  for  their  oppress- 
ors as  they  had  fought  for  themselves;  and  the  Turks 
were  ready.  Three  years  before  the  capture  of  Ani, 
a  Turkish  chief,  cousin  of  Togrul  Beg,  flying  after 
a  defeat,  had  asked  the  Byzantine  governor  of  Yas- 
pourakan  to  let  him  pass  through  that  district;  on 
being  refused,  he  attacked  the  imperial  troops,  routed 
them,  captured  the  governor,  and  on  reaching  Turkish 
ground  sold  him  as  a  slave,  and  urged  Togrul  to  in- 
vade the  Byzantine  territories,  as  they  were  of  match- 
less fertility  and  wealth,  and  the  troops  not  formid- 
able. Togrul  sent  his  nephew  Ibrahim  to  do  so  in 
_1048;,  the  timid  Byzantine  commanders,  after  defeat- 
ing a  detachment  of  his  troops,  waited  for  reinforce- 
ments before  encountering  the  main  body,  and  Ibra- 
him, finding  the  movable  wealth  mostly  stored  up  in 
fortresses,  assailed  the  rich,  unfortified  city  of  Arzen, 
with  300,000  people,  who  had  neglected  to  transfer' 
their  possessions  to  Theodosiopolis,  the  nearest  fortress. 
It  was  one  of  the  chief  seats  of  Asiatic  commerce,  full 
of  the  warehouses  of  Armenian  and  Syrian  merchants. 
They  defended  themselves  for  six  days  with  such  des- 
peration that  Ibrahim,  giving  up  the  hope  of  plunder, 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  123 

and  wishing  at  once  to  secure  bis  rear  from  attack 
while  retreating,  and  to  injure  Byzantine  resources, 
set  fire  to  the  city,  and  reduced  it  to  ashes.  Few  such 
conflagrations  have  ever  been  witnessed  on  earth ;  per- 
haps Moscow  and  Chicago  are  the  only  things  com- 
parable. It  is  said  that  140,000  persons  perished  in 
the  fire  and  in  the  massacre  by  the  Turks  that  fol- 
lowed, and  the  prisoners  taken  were  such  a  multi- 
tude that  the  slave  markets  of  Asia  were  filled  with 
ladies  and  children  from  Arzen.  This  was  the  first  of 
the  many  such  calamities  that  have  dispersed  the  Ar- 
menians all  over  the  world,  like  the  Jews,  have  re- 
duced one  of  the  richest  and  most  populous  countries 
on  the  earth  to  a  poor  and  thinly  populated  one,  and 
turned  Asia  Minor  practically  into  a  desert.  The  next 
year  Kars  was  overrun;  but  in  1050  an  attack  on 
Manzikert  failed,  and  after  an  unsuccessful  invasion 
again  in  1052,  the  Turks  retired  for  a  VA^hile,  but  only 
for  a  more  terrible  onslaught. 

Before  going  on  to  the  next  dynasty,  I  will  finish 
the  story  of  Kakig.  In  his  Cappadocian  magistracy 
he  was  still  called  King  Kakig  and  honored  as  a  king. 
One  day  he  heard  that  a  Greek  bishop  had  called  his 
dog  "  Armen  "  to  insult  the  Armenians,  and  went  to 
his  house  to  make  sure,  and  to  exact  vengeance  if  it 
were  true.  They  drank  heavily  together,  and  Kakig 
ordered  the  bishop  to  call  his  dog;  the  bishop,  too 
drunk  to  know  what  he  was  about,  called  him  "  Here, 
Armen.''  Kakig,  in  a  rage,  ordered  his  retainers 
to  put  the  bishop  and  his  dog  into  a  bag  together, 


124  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

and  then  beat  tlie  dog  till  he  bit  his  master  to  death. 
The  church  was  too  powerful  for  even  a  king  to  murder 
a  bishop  with  impunity,  and  Kakig  was  hanged  on  a 
castle  walh  This  gave  rise  to  the  Turkish  proverb, 
"  Kart  Giavour  musliman  almaz.  Room  Ermenie 
dost  almaz  "  (An  infidel  never  becomes  a  Moslem,  a 
Greek  never  loves  an  Armenian).  The  Turks  have 
always  acted  on  this,  and  used  the  Greeks  against  the 
Armenians;  but  the  old  hate  has  died  out  now  under 
common  oppression. 

THE  RUPENIAN  DYNASTY. 
The  imbecile  policy  of  the  Byzantine  Court  con- 
tinued after  the  suppression  of  the  line  of  Pakrad,  and 
with  even  worse  results.  Having  destroyed  the  in- 
terest and  even  the  right  of  Armenia  to  keep  up  an 
army  of  her  own,  and  confiscated  her  revenues  ap- 
plied to  that  purpose,  the  loss  of  defenders  should  have 
been  made  good  as  far  as  possible,  by  keeping  a  large 
regular  army  there  in  their  place;  but  the  same  cor- 
rupt and  profligate  court  avarice  which  had  caused 
the  one,  prevented  the  other.  Not  only  did  Constan- 
tine  X  (1059-67)  actually  reduce  the  number  of  his 
army,  leave  it  unprovided  with  arms  and  ammunition 
and  other  supplies,  let  the  frontier  fortifications  fall 
out  of  repair,  and  leave  the  garrison  unpaid,  to  save 
money  for  his  overgrown  court  of  costly  favorites 
(the  Byzantine  court  a  little  later  cost  $20,000,000  a 
year  by  itself),  and  let  the  officers  put  civilians  on  the 
rolls,  and  made  artisans  and  shop-keepers  of  their 
real  soldiers  to  pocket  fraudulent  pay  for  themselves, 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  126 

as  the  Persians  do  now,  but  he  used  to  disband  most  of 
his  army  after  every  campaign  to  save  paying  them, 
letting  them  have  free  quarters  on  the  citizens.  The 
Seljuks  were  prompt  to  take  advantage  of  this.  In 
lOGO  Togrul  sacked  Sebaste.  In  1063  his  greater 
nephew  Alp  Arslan  began  a  series  of  raids  that  soon 
reduced  Iberia  and  Northern  Armenia  almost  to  a 
waste.  The  systematic  policy  of  the  Turks  was  to 
make  any  country  they  invaded  impossible  of  civilized 
habitation  again,  by  obliterating  all  the  results  and 
"  plant  "  of  civilization  which  many  ages  of  labor  and 
money  had  enriched  it  with.  They  deliberately  cut 
down  all  the  vineyards,  orchards,  and  olive  groves, 
wrecked  the  aqueducts,  filled  up  the  wells  and  cisterns, 
broke  up  the  bridges,  and  in  short  made  the  land  (ex- 
cept for  a  few  fortresses)  a  mere  desert  pasture  ground 
to  feed  their  cattle  on.  They  were  only  nomad  shep- 
herds and  cattle-men,  despised  cities  as  at  best  neces- 
sary evils,  and  did  not  care  for  tilling  the  soil.  What- 
ever spot  the  Turk  has  set  his  foot  on,  he  has  blasted 
like  a  breath  from  hell,  turning  to  naught  the  laboi*s 
of  thousands  of  years  at  a  blow ;  and  he  has  never  put 
anything  of  his  own  in  place  of  what  he  has  destroyed. 
Where  are  the  Turkish  great  cities  developed  by  them, 
the  Turkish  flourishing  agricultural  regions,  the  Turk- 
ish manufactures,  the  Turkish  literature  or  art  ?  At 
most  they  have  not  quite  been  able  to  exterminate 
others'  progress,  because  they  must  perish  themselves 
in  doing  it. 

The  Armenian  king  of  Iberia  had  to  submit;  the 


126  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Annenian  prince  of  Lorlii  close  by  had  to  give  his 
daughter's  hand  to  Alp  Arslan;  and  at  last  the  royal 
city  of  Ani,  though  strongly  situated  on  a  rocky  penin- 
sula and  protected  on  two  sides  by  a  rapid  river  and 
a  deep  ravine,  was  left  without  help  by  the  Byzan- 
tines, and  in  spite  of  a  heroic  defense,  was  taken  by 
storm,  June  6,  1064.  This  convinced  the  Armenian 
prince  of  Kars  (another  Kakig),  that  he  could  not 
hold  out;  he  surrendered  his  province  to  the  Byzan- 
tine Empire  for  the  appanage  of  the  district  of  Amas- 
sia.  This  removed  the  last  Armenian  prince  from 
the  old  seats  of  the  race,  which  were  now  all  occupied 
by  the  Turks;  and  the  Armenians  emigrated  in  vast 
numbers  to  the  districts  west  and  south  (old  Cappado- 
cia  and  Cilicia),  where  their  native  princes  were  liv- 
ing as  great  Byzantine  dukes  and  governors.  A  num- 
ber of  semi-independent  vassal  principalities  were  soon 
formed,  making  as  before  an  Armenian  wall  between 
the  Turks  and  the  empire ;  but  only  part  way,  and  far 
weaker,  having  left  its  impregnable  mountains,'  and 
being  much  poorer,  and  having  lost  heart.  The  upper 
part,  through  Old  Armenia,  was  left  wholly  open;  and 
the  Seljuks  poured  into  Asia  Minor  like  a  flood,  ruin- 
ing the  country  beyond  reparation  as  they  went. 
Within  a  dozen  years  from  the  capture  of  Ani,  the 
Seljuk  dominion  reached  to  N^icaea,  fifty  miles  from 
Constantinople,  and  the  seat  of  the  first  Christian 
church  council.  Its  lands  could  be  seen  from  St.  So- 
phia; the  Byzantine  Empire  retained  only  a  strip  of 
Asia  Minor  along  the  sea-coast. 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  127 

But  the  Armenian  courage  and  national  spirit, 
and  the  political  and  military  ability  which  had  gov- 
erned the  Eastern  Empire  so  many  centuries,  were  not 
extinct.  The  heart  of  the  nation,  forced  out  of  its 
immemorial  lands,  still  beat  strongly,  and  animated 
their  mass  of  dukedoms,  now  forming  a  compact  body 
in  the  center  of  Asia  Minor,  with  a  common  life  and 
national  instinct,  which  was  soon  to  weld  them  into  a 
new  Armenian  kingdom,  as  true  and  real  a  one  as  the 
old,  Armenians  under  an  Armenian  prince,  but  in  a 
wholly  different  territory,  south  and  southwest  of  the 
former.  Among  the  great  barons  of  this  district  was 
one  Rupen  (Reuben),  a  relative  of  the  slain  Kakig;  it 
is  said  that  he  saw  him  hanged.  At  any  rate,  no  sooner 
was  the  deed  accomplished  than  he  retired  to  the  moun- 
tains of  N^ortheastem  Cilicia,  and  raised  the  standard 
of  Armenian  independence,  with  himself  as  king. 
There  was  absolutely  no  reason  why  it  should 
not  be  gained;  the  Seljuk  conquests  had  cut  the 
Armenian  districts  wholly  off  from  the  Greek 
Empire,  so  that  a  Greek  army  could  not  come 
upon  them  to  punish  them  for  revolt  without 
traversing  at  least  a  hundred  miles  of  Turkish  or 
other  Mohammedan  territory.  The  Armenian  set- 
tlements were  an  island  in  a  sea  of  Mohammedanism. 
The  new  kingdom  of  Cilicia  or  Lesser  Armenia  grew 
mth  a  rapidity  that  would  seem  miraculous,  only  it 
was  a  mere  coalescing  of  the  fragments  of  Armenia 
into  their  old  unity;  in  no  long  time  it  had  spread  east 
to  the  Euphrates,  taking  in  Melitene  (Malatia),  and 


128  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Samosata,  north  'fully  half  way  to  the  Black  Sea,  and 
south  to  the  Mediterranean,  occupying  the  coast  from 
Tarsus  almost  to  Antioch.  This  kingdom  played  a 
part  of  the  first  importance  in  the  history  of  Asia 
Minor  for  close  on  three  centuries;  its  territories 
were  gradually  whittled  away  by  Turks  and  Mongols, 
but  it  kept  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  open  for  Chris- 
tian action  against  the  Mohammedans  to  the  last.  To 
their  shame,  the  Byzantine  emperors  were  much  more 
hostile  to  it  than  to  the  Turks,  with  whom  they  often 
allied  themselves  against  it;  for  some  years  it  was  vas- 
sal to  the  Byzantine  Empire;  later  it  was  overwhelmed 
by  the  Mameluke  deluge  from  Egypt,  and  allied  itself 
with  Jenghiz  Khan's  Mongol  hordes  against  them; 
but  the  Mongols  passed  and  the  Mamelukes  remained, 
and  exacted  a  terrible  vengeance,  putting  an  end  to 
the  kingdom  with  the  usual  horrors  of  Oriental  con- 
quest in  1375. 

Rupen's  son  Constantine  succeeded  him.  It  was 
by  his  help  that  the  leaders  of  the  first  crusade  captured 
Antioch.  Constantine  was  succeeded  by  his  two  sons, 
Leo  and  Theodore  jointly,  but  finally  Leo  reigned 
alone;  he  was  an  able  prince,  fought  the  Saracens  with 
success,  and  much  enlarged  his  kingdom,  and  at  last 
made  a  naval  attack  on  Isaurian  Seleucia,  the  frontier 
fortress  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  in  this  part,  and  an 
important  seaport.  This  brought  "  Handsome  John," 
the  ablest  of  the  Comnenian  line  of  Byzantine  Em- 
perors, into  the  field ;  he  stormed  the  Cilician  seaports, 
and  then  reduced  the  chief  interior  fortresses;  Leo  fled 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  129 

to  the  Taurus  Mountains,  but  was  captured,  and  died 
in  captivity  at  Constantinople.  His  son  Rupen  had 
his  eyes  put  out  on  a  charge  of  treason,  and  died  of 
it;  but  his  other  son,  Toros,  escaped,  and  after  John's 
death  restored  the  Cilician  kingdom,  which  had  tem- 
porarily been  made  vassal  by  John.  Toros  is  the 
glory  of  the  whole  llupenian  line;  he  was  of  the  first 
rank,  both  as  a  general  and  a  statesman.  He  scarcely 
ever  suffered  a  military  reverse.  He  beat  the  Byzan- 
tine armies  in  campaign  after  campaign,  and  the  Sel- 
juks  as  well;  under  him  the  new  Armenia  was  almost 
a  match  for  all  its  enemies  combined,  and  no  one  of 
them  dreamed  of  attacking  it  single-handed.  Levon 
was  another  able  ruler,  who  maintained  the  power 
and  prosperity  of  the  kingdom ;  he  was  an  ally  of  the 
great  Emperor  Frederick  Barbarossa  in  the  Third 
Crusade,  assisted  him  in  capturing  Iconium  (1190), 
and  both  Frederick  and  the  Greek  Emperor  Alexius 
III  sent  him  crowns, —  the  second  no  great  honor,  as 
Alexius  was  one  of  the  most  contemptible  of  human 
beings.  In  Levon's  time  the  capital  of  the  kingdom 
was  Cis,  where  there  is  now  a  great  Armenian  mon- 
astery with  rare  manuscripts,  the  residence  of  a  Cath- 
olicos.  The  changes  in  the  extent  of  the  kingdom 
are  very  curious;  perhaps  most  curious  of  all  (since  the 
Armenians  were  always  a  race  of  inland  and  high- 
land farmers,  not  seamen),  the  new  kingdom  was  grad- 
ually crowded  down  on  the  north  and  lost  two-thirds 
of  its  territory  in  that  direction,  but  steadily  extended 
along  the  coast  until  it  came  to  include  not  only  all 


130  ARIVIENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Cilicia  but  all  of  old  Isauria  clear  to  its  western  moun- 
tain barrier;  hundreds  of  miles  of  seaboard,  from  close 
to  Antioch  on  the  one  side,  to  far  west  of  Cyprus  on  tbe 
other,  being  indeed  a  strong  maritime  power.  At  the 
end  it  had  lost  these  western  coast  extensions,  but  still 
had  an  area  larger  than  that  of  the  Crimea  now,  a  very 
considerable  power  to  hold  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
Mediterranean. 

It  was  during  these  times  that  the  hard-pressed 
Armenians  received  promises  from  the  Popes  to  help 
them  against  their  enemies  if  they  would  use  the 
Roman  ritual  and  ceremonial,  and  submit  themselves 
to  the  papacy.  The  country  never  did  accept  Ro- 
manism, though  some  churches  introduced  the  ritual 
and  images,  and  conformed  to  the  Roman  fashion; 
and  of  course  it  never  did  get  any  help  from  the  popes, 
who  had  nothing  to  give  but  recommendations,  which 
the  temporal  powers  paid  no  attention  to. 

Levon  VI  was  the  last  of  the  line.  He  was  a  weak, 
easy-going  man,  handsome  and  popular,  but  not  of 
much  ability;  perhaps  he  could  not  have  saved  his 
country  if  he  had  been.  I  have  told  of  the  Mamelukes 
and  their  invasion;  they  overran  the  country,  and 
treated  the  people  as  the  Turks  have  done  lately, 
striking  terror  to  them  by  terrific  massacres,  satiating 
their  lust  on  the  women,  and  carrying  off  many  thou- 
sands of  captives  for  wives  or  slaves.  Levon  was  taken 
captive  also;  after  some  years  in  Egypt,  he  was  per- 
mitted to  go  free,  wandered  through  Europe  for  a 
dozen  years,  and  finally  settled  in  Paris,  where  he  died 


^2 


■^, 


'^*tc-^ 


■-:■>■. 


ft         <        «        . 


THE  ARMENIAN  DYNASTIES.  131 

in  1393.  He  was  buried  by  the  high  altar  of  the 
Church  of  the  Celestine;  the  following  epitaph  is  on 
his  monument,  which  still  exists  to-day : 

Here  lies  Levon  VI,  the  noble  Lousinian  Prince, 
the  King  of  Armenia, 
who  died  1393,  A.D.,  Nov.  23d,  in  Paris. 

I  have  been  dealing  here  with  the  special  kingdom 
of  Armenia,  under  a  regular  king;  but  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  the  older  sections,  ruled  by  Greek 
or  Turk,  were  Armenia  still,  inhabited  largely  by  Ar- 
menians, in  spite  of  emigration  and  Turkish  settle- 
ment, and  their  fortunes  really  part  of  this  history. 
Under  both  Jenghiz  Khan  and  his  successors,  and 
Timour,  every  horror  was  let  loose  on  the  unhappy 
lands.  For  nearly  a  century  the  first  Tatar  invasion 
cursed  and  devasted  it;  hundreds  of  villages  were 
destroyed,  the  inhabitants  slain  or  at  the  mercy  of 
the  savages,  and  vast  numbers  emigrated  in  despair. 
Among  others,  the  cities  of  Ani  and  Erzeroum  were 
captured,  and  every  inhabitant  put  to  the  sword,  each 
soldier  being  given  his  portion  to  kill,  so  that  none 
should  escape.  Timour  compelled  all  whom  he 
spared  to  become  Mohammedans.  When  he  took  the 
city  of  Van,  he  threw  the  inhabitants  from  the  castle 
walls  until  the  dead  bodies  reached  to  the  height  of 
the  walls.  A  great  famine  followed,  and  many  thou- 
sands died  of  it;  the  starving  wretches  sometimes  ate 
their  children  or  parents  to  sustain  life  a  little  longer. 
The  reader  will  see  later  whether  the  modern  Turks 
have  any  superiority  over  the  hordes  of  the  thirteenth 
or  fifteenth  century. 


IV. 
EULEKS   OF   THE   OTTOMAN   EMPIRE. 

SULTANS  OF  THE  PAST. 

The  Ottoman  Empire  begins  with  Othman,  born 
1258  A.D. ;  the  dynasty  is  usually  counted  from  the 
tinie  of  his  being  given  a  local  governorship  by  the  last 
of  the  Seljuk  Sultans,  in  1289.  The  tribe  was  simply 
one  small  group  of  families  when  we  first  hear  of  it; 
Othman's  father  Ertogrul  entered  the  Seljuk  dominion 
not  many  years  before  that  date  with  only  four  hun- 
dred tents,  say  two  thousand  people  in  all,  counting 
women  and  children.  They  had  been  driven  from 
their  homes  in  Central  Asia  by  the  Mongols.  The 
Seljuk  Sultan  Ala-ed-din  III  made  Othman  governor 
of  Karadja-hissar  (Melangeia).  ^N'ow  Othman,  though 
a  plundering  marauder  like  other  tribal  chiefs,  turbu- 
lent and  cruel,  knew  some  things  that  better  men 
never  find  out.  He  knew  that  impartial  justice  is  a 
greater  strength  to  a  state  and  a  greater  lure  to  draw 
others  to  it  than  anything  else;  he  made  the  fair  at 
Karadja-hissar  a  model  of  business  equity  for  all  races 
and  religions,  it  was  thronged  with  traders,  and  other 
Turkish  tribes  soon  flocked  to  the  banner  of  the  man 
who  never  broke  his  promises  and  dealt  out  even- 
handed  justice.  The  lying  Greeks  never  learned  the 
lesson  in  all  their  history.     In  a  dozen  years  he  was 

(132) 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  138 

able  to  collect  an  army  of  5,000  soldiers,  beat  a  Byzan- 
tine force  sent  against  him,  overrun  a  large  province 
of  Asia  Minor,  and  with  the  plunder  greatly  increased 
his  following.  He  realized  too  that  education  and 
thorough  practical  training  and  moral  discipline  were 
the  foundations  of  success;  most  of  us  know  that  now, 
but  few  understood  it  then.  But  the  wild  and  bar- 
barous Turks  could  not  be  educated  and  disciplined 
as  he  wished, —  would  not  stand  it  and  were  incapable 
of  profiting  by  it, —  and  so  he  or  his  son  Orkhan  de- 
veloped the  terrible  system  which  for  centuries  made 
the  "  Turks  "  irresistible,  which  made  the  ''  Turks  " 
seem  to  increase  rapidly,  and  makes  the  "  Turks  "  to- 
day appear  numerous  while  in  fact  not  one  drop  in  ten 
of  the  blood  in  their  veins  is  Turkish  at  all.  This  was 
to  exact  from  the  Christian  population  —  Greek  or 
Armenian  chiefly  —  a  regular  tribute  of  boys  as  well 
as  money.  These  were  taken  from  their  parents  at 
about  eight  years  old,  educated  and  trained  in  the 
household  of  the  Ottoman  Sultan  himself,  of  course 
drilled  in  the  Mohammedan  religion,  and  gradually 
inducted  into  the  highest  posts,  civil  or  military,  if 
fit  for  them,  or  made  into  a  special  body  guard  for  the 
Sultan.  These  were  called  "  yeni  cheri  "  (new 
soldiers),  which  is  familiar  to  everybody  in  the  form 
"  Janissaries."  From  that  day  to  this,  the  Turkish 
system  has  been  built  up  by  foreign  blood,  and  outside 
of  the  Sultanate  pretty  much  entirely  by  foreign 
brains;  it  was  the  constant  infusion  of  fresh  civilized 
Christian  ability  and  moral  character  into  it  that  kept 


134  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

its  inherent  defects  and  vices  from  bringing  it  to  an 
end  long  ago.  Finally  the  system  partly  rotted  out 
and  partly  became  impossible  to  enforce  for  fear  of 
revolution  (Sultan  Mahmoud  ended  it  in  1826);  but 
never  outside  of  this  has  a  tribe  of  barbarians  ever 
succeeded  so  completely  in  impressing  into  its  own 
service  the  powers  of  a  higher  race.  It  is  as  though 
horses  should  have  regularly  broken  and  driven  teams 
of  men  for  centuries ;  even  more  usefully  to  the  Turks, 
because  intermarriage  (largely  by  force  on  their  part) 
has  filled  their  own  veins  with  civilized  Armenian 
and  other  blood.  As  soon  as  this  reinforcement 
stopped,  the  Turks  began  to  decay. 

I  cannot  enter  even  in  outline  into  the  political 
history  of  the  Armenians  during  the  next  few  cen- 
turies. The  country  has  been  torn  into  fragments, 
and  each  fragment  has  a  history  so  separate  that  there 
would  be  no  unity  between  them.  One  section  of 
what  was  once  Armenia  would  be  governed  by  Per- 
sian officials;  another  occupied  by  the  savage  Kurds; 
another  mis-governed  and  oppressed  by  the  Turks; 
another  under  the  rule  of  Russia;  and  so  on.  Persia, 
when  she  recovered  her  national  being,  held  and  still 
holds  a  small  part  of  the  eastern  section,  as  I  stated 
earlier  in  the  book,  Russia  the  north;  but  the  heart 
of  old  Armenia  is  in  Turkish  hands.  The  Sultans 
have  succeeded  in  mixing  themselves  with  the  natives 
and  occupying  their  confiscated  lands  till  the  Armen- 
ians are  put  in  a  minority  in  their  own  country. 

I  must  correct  here  a  notion  fostered  by  historical 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  135 

writers,  that  the  Turks  are  very  brave.  They  may 
have  been  once,  though  I  doubt  it  and  there  is  no  proof 
of  it;  but  they  certainly  have  gotten  over  it  now.  In 
the  last  Turko-Russian  war  (1878),  they  ran  by  thous- 
ands to  Christian  houses  for  protection.  They  are 
just  like  wild  dogs:  savage  and  ferocious,  but  not 
brave.  Nor  are  they  wise:  they  have  some  low  cun- 
ning, but  no  practical  sagacity  —  that  too  is  a  thing  of 
the  past.  As  to  industrial  talents  they  have  simply 
none  whatever;  they  depend  on  foreigners  for  every- 
thing: they  will  not  learn  and  indeed  cannot  learn,  and 
never  try  to  learn.  They  have  never  made  a  cannon 
or  even  a  gun,  they  never  built  a  war  vessel  and  very 
few  if  any  other  kinds,  they  make  neither  powder  nor 
shot;  all  come  from  Europe  or  America.  Nor  have 
they  even  decent  military  talent,  the  very  thing  they 
pretend  is  their  special  business:  their  best  generals 
are  Germans,  their  admiral  for  a  long  time  was  the 
Englishman  Hobart,  I  think  the  Englishman  Woods 
is  so  now.  As  to  civil  ability,  their  best  administrators 
have  always  been  Armenians.  Bezjian  Amira  was 
Sultan  Mahmoud's  adviser;  Haroun  Dadian,  another 
Armenian,  is  the  chief  adviser  in  foreign  affairs  of  the 
present  Sultan.  His  personal  treasurer  is  an  Ar- 
menian, Portucalian  Pasha.  Is  this  inconsistent  with 
what  I  have  said  of  his  hating  the  Armenians  for  their 
intelligence  ?  Not  in  the  least:  he  employs  them  in 
spite  of  his  hatred,  because  he  can  trust  no  others:  the 
Turks  are  too  stupid  and  all  others  too  unsafe. 


136  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

List  of  Ottoman  Sultans  and  date  of  accession. 


A.D. 


1.  Othman  I,  gazi, 1299 

2.  Orkhan  I,  gazi, 1327 

3.  Murad  I,  gazi, 1360 

4.  Bayazid  I,  yelderim, 1389 

5.  Mohammed  I,  chelebi, 1413 

6.  Murad  II,  gazi, 1421 

7.  Mohammed  II,  fatih, 1451 

8.  Bayazid  II,  gazi, 1481 

9.  Selim   I,   yavouz, 1512 

10.  Suleyman  I,  kanooni, 1520 

11.  Selim  II,  gazi, 1566 

12.  Murad  III,  gazi, 1574 

13.  Mohammed  III,  gazi, 1595 

14.  Ahmed  I,  gazi, 1603 

15.  Mustafa  I, 1617 

16.  Othman  II,  guendj, 1618 

17.  Murad  lY,  gazi, 1622 

18.  Ibrahim  I, 1640 

19.  Mohammed  TV, 1648 

20.  Suleyman  II, 1687 

21.  Ahmed  II, 1691 

22.  Mustafa  II, 1695 

23.  Ahmed  III,  gazi, 1702 

24.  Mahmud  I,  gazi, 1730 

25.  Othman  III, 1754 

26.  Mustafa  III,  gazi, 1757 

27.  Abdul  Hamid  I,  gazi, 1773 

28.  Selim  III, 1789 

29.  Mustafa  IV, 1807 

30.  Mahmud  II,  adil, 1808 

31.  Abdul  Mejid  I,  gazi, 1839 

32.  Abdul  Aziz  I, 1861 

33.  Murad  Y, 1876 

34.  Abdul  Hamid   II,   gazi,       ....  1876 


RULERS  OP^  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  137 

Some  of  the  above  Sultans  have  special  titles,  like 
our  ''  William  the  Conqueror,"  ''  Charles  the  Bold," 
**  Henry  Beauclerk,"  etc.  Thus,  gazi  and  fatih  mean 
conqueror;  adil,  righteous;  guendj,  young;  yavouz, 
brave;  kanooni,  law-giver;  yelderim,  lightning;  che- 
lebi,  gentleman.  Most  of  them  have  the  title  gazi,  or 
conqueror;  the  present  Sultan  bears  it  because  he 
fought  with  Russia.  He  was  beaten,  to  be  sure,  but 
he  took  the  title  all  the  same. 

Sultan  Mohammed  II,  who  captured  the  city  of 
Constantinople,  established  an  Armenian  Patriarchate 
there  in  1461  A.  D.  The  first  Patriarch  was  Hova- 
guem,  the  Bishop  of  Broosa,  a  friend  of  the  Sultan. 
Mohammed  II  had  two  motives  in  this:  first,  to  have 
an  Armenian  ecclesiastical  center  in  Constantinople 
for  the  nucleus  of  a  strong  Armenian  settlement  there, 
to  play  oif  against  the  Greeks  from  whom  the  city  was 
taken  and  who  might  be  dangerous,  whereas  the  feud 
between  Armenians  and  Greeks  would  make  each 
weaken  the  other;  second,  to  have  a  hostage  for  the 
Armenians,  responsible  for  their  not  breaking  into 
revolt;  not  at  all  for  the  benefit  of  the  Armenians,  but 
for  that  of  the  Sultan.  The  same  reason  obtains  to 
this  day.  If  there  was  no  Patriarch,  their  cause 
would  be  much  better  oif.  After  the  establishment 
of  this  Patriarchate  the  Armenians  had  no  more  kings 
or  princes;  their  political  head  was  the  Patriarch. 
Even  after  the  Patriarchate  was  established  they  were 
not  safe.  They  yielded  to  the  Sultans,  they  became 
slaves  to  the  Sultans,  but  the  Persian  Mohammedans 


188  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

were  foes  of  the  Turkish  Mohammedans,  and  Armenia, 
as  of  old  in  Koman  times,  was  the  battle-ground.  In 
the  time  of  Sultan  Ahmed  and  Shah  Appas,  the  latter 
overran  Armenia  and  carried  away  the  people  to  cap- 
tivity, besides  killing  hundreds  of  thousands.  Then 
it  was  retaken  by  the  Turks.  Then  a  part  of  it  was 
captured  by  the  Russians.  Historians  write  of  the 
Huguenots  and  their  sufferings;  of  the  conflicts  in 
Europe  between  the  Catholics  and  the  Protestants. 
How  many  centuries  were  the  Protestants  persecuted 
and  martyred?  How  many  millions  were  killed  by 
the  Eoman  Catholics?  Do  all  the  Protestant  martyrs 
in  Europe  number  as  many  as  the  Armenian  martyrs  ? 
I  doubt  it. 

And  let  it  not  be  said  that  these  were  not  religious 
martyrs,  but  merely  victims  of  the  fortunes  of  war  or 
political  conflicts.  The  wars  were  three  times  out  of 
four  based  on  real  if  not  nominal  grounds  of  religious 
antagonism,  —  Mohammedan  or  Zoroastrian  against 
Christian,  —  or  claims  of  religious  protectorate,  as 
Russia  over  the  Armenian  Christians;  the  political 
exigencies  which  called  or  formed  a  pretext  for  the 
massacre  of  myriads  of  men  and  old  women,  the  out- 
rage of  the  young  brides  and  maidens,  the  enslavement 
of  the  children,  were  without  a  single  exception  created 
by  the  resistance  of  Christians  to  forced  conversion,  or 
the  fear  of  Mohammedan  rulers  that  as  Christians 
they  meant  to  revolt,  or  sheer  blind  hatred  to  men  of 
another  creed.  The  victims  were  truly  martyrs  to 
Christianity. 


•  »»_»-   •  ». 


•M 


l/l  «4f    •  *fCHE:srLTAN«    FROM  A  RECENT  PORTRAIT. 
(By  permission  of  "The  Youths  Companion.") 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.         130 

THE  PRESENT  SULTAN,  HAMID  IL 

This  is  the  thirty-fourth  Sultan  in  the  Ottoman 
line,  and  probably  the  worst,  the  least,  and  the  last. 
It  is  not  likely  the  Turks  will  ever  have  another  Sul- 
tan, for  this  one  is  pretty  sure  to  bring  the  Sultanate 
to  an  end.  His  days  are  numbered,  he  knows  it  well, 
and  the  Turks  know  it  well  too.  Before  his  life  and 
his  kingdom  are  finished,  he  has  resolved  to  end  the 
Armenian  nation;  that,  however,  will  not  be  ended, 
the  people  will  not  be  exterminated ;  when  the  Turkish 
Empire  is  abolished  the  remaining  Armenians  will 
have  freedom. 

Hamid  II  was  bom  September  22,  1842,  second 
son  of  Abdul  Mejid,  and  wrested  the  throne  from  his 
brother  Mourad  August  31,  1876.  He  is  not  a  legiti- 
mate Sultan,  but  a  usurper.  When  but  a  little  boy 
he  manifested  a  savage  and  cruel  spirit.  While  the 
Dalma  Bagsh  Palace,  the  largest  in  Constantinople, 
perhaps  in  the  world  —  was  going  up,  he  went  to 
visit  it;  seeing  it  unfinished,  he  called  the  Armenian 
architect  and  told  him  it  must  be  finished  by  the  next 
day.  "  My  dear  prince  and  lord,"  said  the  architect, 
"  I  wish  I  could  finish  it,  but  it  is  impossible ;  and  es- 
pecially not  to-morrow,  since  it  is  Sunday,  and  we 
Christians  do  not  work  on  Sundays."  "  You  heathen 
dog,  you  Armenian,"  said  the  boy  Hamid,  "  if  I  grow 
up,  and  some  day  become  a  Sultan,  I  will  force  all  the 
Armenians  to  break  the  Sabbath,  and  if  they  do  not, 
I  will  order  the  soldiers  to  kill  them  all."    He  is  carry- 


140  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

ing  out  his  threat.  He  grew  to  manhood  without  be- 
coming any  milder,  and  is  morally  corrupt  besides* 
He  has  drunken  bouts  with  worthless  associates, 
and  spent  his  time  in  all  sorts  of  monstrous  debauch- 
ery and  brutality.  He  was  such  a  miserable  wretch 
that  it  is  impossible  to  describe  his  beastly  life  on 
paper.  There  is  no  humanity  in  him,  no  grace,  no 
sympathy,  no  brains,  no  strength;  he  is  pale  and  sick, 
well  worthy  to  be  called  the  "  sick  man  of  Turkey.'^ 
This  is  a  very  different  description  of  him  from  that 
given  by  General  Lew  Wallace  and  Mr.  Terrell.  I 
can  only  say  that  I  know  what  I  am  talking  about,  and 
they  do  not.  I  lived  in  Constantinople,  as  a  native  of 
Turkey,  and  with  means  of  knowing,  seeing  him  often, 
and  hear  authentic  stories  of  his  doings  day  by  day. 
General  "Wallace  was  invited  to  the  palace,  feasted 
and  flattered,  and  his  wife  decorated  with  jewels; 
naturally,  he  thinks  no  ill  of  a  man  who  treated  him  so 
well,  and  with  whom  he  hopes  for  more  good  times 
when  he  goes  back.  He  has  done  infinite  harm  to  the 
cause  of  Armenia  by  his  popular  lectures,  declaring 
the  atrocities  "  exaggerated  "  (he  evidently  thinks  that 
if  a  newspaper  report  gives  ten  thousand  men  mur- 
dered when  there  were  only  five,  and  all  the  women  of 
a  city  violated  when  a  dozen  of  them  got  away, 
you  are  entitled  to  dismiss  the  whole  thing  from  your 
mind  as  of  little  account),  and  the  Sultan  a  good  man, 
incapable  of  such  things.  People  are  bewildered,  and 
ask,  "  How  can  we  doubt  a  good  American  who  was 
minister  there  ?  "     Why,  good  people,  what  has  his 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  141 

ministry  got  to  do  with  it  ?  He  was  hundreds  of  miles 
from  Armenia,  and  did  not  know  any  of  the  chief  lan- 
guages of  Constantinople, —  either  Armenian,  Turk- 
ish, or  Romanic ;  and  what  could  he  tell  of  his  host,  ex- 
cept of  the  quality  of  his  hospitality  ?  A  man  usually 
shows  his  best  side  to  tli<%e  he  entertains;  did  he  sup- 
pose the  Sultan  was  going  to  amuse  his  guests  by 
having  one  Armenian  disemboweled,  and  another 
emasculated  or  impaled  on  red-hot  iron  rods,  and  a 
couple  of  women  ravished,  as  a  light  and  playful  inter- 
lude between  the  main  dishes  and  the  dessert  ?  His 
praise  of  the  Sultan  is  as  valuable  as  his  praise  of  the 
Grand  Llama  would  be, —  he  knows  nothing  of  either; 
and  his  inference  from  the  Sultanas  pleasant  talk  that 
he  could  not  order  a  nation  extirpated  with  hideous 
cruelties,  is  simply  imbecile.  And  since  he  has  given 
all  this  loose  talk,  the  consular  reports,  from  English 
residents  among  the  very  scenes,  have  been  published, 
showing  that  the  atrocities  have  not  only  not  been  ex- 
aggerated, but  are  even  worse  than  reported.  In 
this  case,  even  the  newspapers  were  unable  to  come  up 
to  the  truth ;  their  rhetoric  fell  short  of  the  full  meas- 
ure of  the  awful  truth. 

To  go  back  a  little:  Twenty  years  ago  Abdul 
Aziz,  uncle  of  the  present  Sultan,  was  the  ruler  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire.  He  cared  little  for  the  country  or 
the  people;  he  wanted  only  to  eat  and  drink,  and  have 
good  times.  He  w^as  a  very  strong  and  hearty  man, 
and  I  was  told  he  could  eat  a  whole  roast  lamb  for 
dinner,  and  think  it  probable.     He  had  the  innate 


142  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

cruelty  of  his  family,  their  love  of  blood  for  its  Own 
sake,  lie  had  tigers  and  lions  fight  together;  he 
would  order  a  live  lamb  flung  to  a  lion,  and  laugh  to  see 
the  lion  tear  and  devour  it.  He  married  all  the  hand- 
some girls  he  could  find,  but  for  pure  animality;  he 
cared  nothing  for  their  education  or  virtue,  and  his 
several  hundred  wives  were  what  you  might  expect. 
One  of  them  fell  in  love  with  the  commander-in-chief, 
or  Minister  of  War,  Heussein  Avni  Pasha,  a  very 
ambitious  and  daring  adventurer,  who  had  gained  the 
confidence  of  the  Sultan,  and  went  often  to  the  palace. 
The  Sultan  heard  of  the  intrigue,  went  to  the  woman's 
room,  kicked  her  fatally,  and  threw  her  out  of  the 
window.  But  before  her  death,  she  sent  word  to 
Heussein  to  avenge  her  on  the  Sultan.  Heussein's 
position  was  very  critical;  evidently  it  was  a  race  be- 
tween him  and  the  Sultan  which  should  kill  the  other 
first.  He  went  to  Midhad,  the  Grand  Vezir,  and  to 
Kaysereli  Ahmed,  the  admiral,  both  liberal-minded 
pashas,  in  favor  of  establishing  a  constitutional  (or 
even  if  they  could,  a  republican)  government,  and 
without  telling  them  his  relations  to  and  fears  from 
the  Sultan,  persuaded  them  that  now  was  the  time  to 
depose  the  Sultan,  and  establish  liberal  institutions, 
and  told  them  it  must  be  done  that  night,  or  the  Sultan 
would  get  wind  of  it,  and  then  good-by  to  all  of  them. 
And  he  clinched  the  argument  by  telling  them  he 
would  order  his  soldiers  to  kill  both  of  them  if  they 
refused  to  join  him,  and  then  depose  the  Sultan  just 
the  same;  "  as  commander-in-chief,"  he  said,  "  I  can 


PRESENT  SULTAN,  HAMID  II. 
From  an  early  portrait. 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  I43 

compel  obedience,  and  I  am  in  earnest."  They  con- 
sented, and  while  the  Sultan  was  asleep  that  night  the 
commander's  soldiers  and  the  admiral's  sailors  sur- 
rounded the  palace  by  the  land  and  sea.  This  was 
the  Dalma  Bagsh,  the  largest  and  handsomest  palace 
in  Constantinople.  Heussein  entered,  saying  he  had 
important  news  for  the  Sultan.  Going  to  the  chamber 
where  Aziz  was  sleeping,  he  awakened  him,  and  said, 
"In  the  name  of  your  nephew.  Sultan  Murad,  I  de- 
pose you."  Then  he  compelled  him  to  go  down-stairs 
to  a  boat  in  waiting,  filled  with  soldiers,  carried  him  to 
Cheragan  Palace,  and  imprisoned  him  there;  after 
which  he  informed  the  Sultan's  nephew,  then  Prince 
Murad,  that  his  uncle  had  been  deposed  because  the 
people  would  not  endure  him,  and  added,  "As  the 
oldest  in  the  royal  family  you  succeed  him,  and  I,  as 
commander-in-chief,  have  the  honor  and  privilege  of 
humbly  serving  my  master,  and  leading  your  majesty 
to  the  throne  of  the  Ottoman  Empire." 

Murad  was  too  astonished  to  know  what  to  do  or 
say;  but  Heussein  was  resolute,  and  Murad  reluctantly 
followed  him  to  the  Dalma  Bagsh;  there  the  com- 
mander ordered  the  soldiers  to  cry  out  three  times 
"  Padishahum  chock  yasa  "  (Long  live  the  Sultan). 
All  this  was  about  midnight;  and  meantime  printed 
notices  were  prepared  and  scattered  throughout  Con- 
stantinople that  Sultan  Aziz  was  deposed  and  Sultan 
Murad  was  on  the  throne.  After  a  few  days  the 
commander-in-chief  sent  a  eunuch  and  a  physician  to 
Cheragan  Palace,  with  orders  to  put  Aziz  to  death. 


144  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

They  did  so  by  chloroforming  him  and  cutting  his 
blood-vessels  with  scissors.  Heussein  prepared  a  false 
report  stating  that  he  had  committed  suicide,  and 
brought  it  to  Sultan  Murad.  The  latter  did  not  be- 
lieve it,  and  said,  "  you  killed  my  uncle."  Heussein 
left  the  Sultan's  presence  in  great  anger,  and  went  to 
Midhad's  palace  to  confer  with  him,  calling  in  also 
Kaysereli  Ahmed  and  other  officers.  While  they  were 
together,  another  officer,  Cherkez  Hassan  by  name, 
brother-in-law  of  the  dead  Sultan,  came  to  the  palace, 
informing  the  guard  that  he  had  a  message  from  the 
Sultan  to  the  pashas,  who  were  in  conference.  The 
guard  admitted  him,  and  he  went  to  the  parlor.  After 
the  usual  salutations  the  commander  asked  him,  "  Has- 
san, w^hy  did  you  come  here  ? ''  Hassan  replied,  "  I 
came  to  kill  you,  dog,"  and  fired  three  shots  at  him 
from  his  revolver,  stretching  him  dead  on  the  floor. 
Then,  before  the  others  could  assail  him,  he  killed 
every  one  present,  except  Midhad,  who  escaped.  Has- 
san was  finally  captured  and  hanged,  but  Murad  was 
established  on  the  throne.  He  was  a  good-natured  and 
liberal-minded  man;  he  believed  in  constitutional  gov- 
ernment, and  organized  a  working  system.  There  was 
to  be  a  parliament,  one-third  Christians  and  two-thirds 
Mohammedans,  elected  by  the  people  of  the  provinces 
or  vilayets.  Each  vilayet  furnished  three  members, 
two  Mohammedans  and  one  Christian,  all  indorsed 
by  the  clergymen.  During  the  elections  I  was  pastor 
of  Adana  in  Armenia  Minor,  and  had  to  endorse  our 
members.     The  Adana  member  was  an  Armenian 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  I45 

named  Krikor  Bizdigian,  the  richest  man  of  that  city, 
perhaps  in  Turkey;  if  still  living,  he  must  be  ninety. 
When  the  parliament  was  opened  in  Constantinople, 
Sultan  Murad  presided,  and  told  the  members  to  dis- 
cuss any  questions  freely.  He  said,  "  We  are  here  for 
the  good  of  the  country,  and  the  empire  needs  to  be  re- 
formed ;  how  can  we  reform  it  ? "  This  was  an  entire 
novelty;  "  government  by  discussion  '^  is  not  the  Orien- 
tal way,  and  not  the  Oriental  liking  either.  The  Mo- 
hammedan members  were  astonished,  and  they  were 
wrathful  at  the  Christian  members  when  the  latter  be- 
gan to  make  free  and  able  speeches.  They  said,  "  Are 
we  going  to  be  governed  by  these  heathen  dogs,  the 
Christian  hogs  ?  We  will  have  no  parliament  where 
every  dog  is  free  to  open  his  mouth.  We  want  the 
good  old  ways  of  Mohammed."  They  were  like  mad 
dogs,  ready  to  bite.  They  hated  the  Christians,  and 
they  hated  the  Sultan.  They  went  to  his  younger 
brother,  the  present  Sultan,  and  told  him  his  brother 
Murad  was  insane.  "  He  makes  Christian  dogs  equal 
to  Mussulmen;  he  will  ruin  the  country;  you  must 
become  Sultan  to  save  the  Turkish  Empire."  This 
suited  Abdul  Aziz  exactly ;  he  headed  a  revolt,  deposed 
his  good  brother,  dissolved  the  parliament,  imprisoned 
Murad  in  the  palace  where  his  uncle  was  assassinated, 
and  since  then  has  been  carrying  the  country  to  de- 
struction. He  is  a  perfect  devil  in  all  respects.  A 
devil  can  take  the  guise  of  an  angel,  and  the  Sultan  has 
the  cunning  to  make  himself  appear  a  perfect  gentle- 
man, a  benevolent  and  humane  person.     The  devil 


146  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

can  cheat  most  people,  and  so  can  the  Sultan,  all  but 
the  native  Christians  in  Turkey,  to  whom  he  shows 
his  horns,  and  hoofs,  and  tail. 

The  nauseous  praise  of  the  Sultan  from  travelers 
and  ministers  reminds  me  of  a  Turkish  brigand  named 
Guro,  who  infested  Asia  Minor  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago.  He  robbed  year  after  year  all  travelers  who  had 
anything  worth  taking;  but  when  he  met  tramps  he 
gave  them  money,  and  even  a  roasted  lamb  to  eat  now 
and  then.  The  tramps  all  praised  him;  he  was  a 
benevolent,  humane,  kind-hearted  man ;  they  had  never 
seen  anything  cruel  or  dishonest  about  him.  So  the 
Sultan  robs  the  Armenians,  and  uses  their  money  to 
feast  the  American  ministers  and  decorate  their  wives. 
Oh,  but  the  Sultan  sent  money  to  the  sufferers  from 
famine  in  the  Western  States  of  America;  so  generous 
of  him  !  I  am  glad  to  say  the  money  was  refused. 
All  Americans  who  praise  the  Sultan  are  like  the 
tramps  and  the  brigand.  They  are  either  ignorant 
or  in  effect  bribed.  And  then  there  is  the  affectation 
of  impartiality,  so  easy  a  cover  for  ignorance,  coldness, 
and  laziness.  You  must  say  some  good  things  about 
a  scoundrel,  and  some  ill  ones  about  a  saint,  or  you 
will  be  considered  a  partisan.  You  must  not  tell  even 
the  truth,  if  the  truth  is  all  on  one  side.  If  the  Sul- 
tan massacres  all  the  Christians  in  Turkey,  why,  there 
are  two  sides  to  the  question;  perhaps  the  Christians 
were  not  agreeable  people,  and  if  so,  you  cannot  won- 
der he  has  them  exterminated  by  sword,  and  fire,  and 
torture,  and  rape;  it  is  really  the  only  way  he  could  get 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  147 

rid  of  them.  And  then,  he  is  king,  and  has  a  right  to 
do  what  he  pleases  with  his  own ;  nobody  has  any  busi- 
ness to  interfere.  Of  course  a  President  could  not 
order  three  millions  of  people  put  to  death  by  letting 
loose  all  the  savage  Indians  of  the  West  on  them  to  do 
as  they  pleased  with  them,  for  the  sake  of  making  them 
worship  the  Big  Manitou ;  but  a  Sultan  —  that  is  dif- 
ferent, even  though  a  Kurd  is  exactly  as  bad  as  an 
Indian,  and  an  Indian's  knife  does  not  cut  throats  any 
more  effectively,  nor  an  Indian's  tortures  inflict  more 
unnamable  horrors  of  suffering,  nor  an  Indian's  torch 
burn  houses  any  better,  nor  an  Indian's  beastly  lust 
defile  women  any  worse.  Are  all  the  writers,  then, 
who  have  praised  him  ignorant  or  silly  ?  Yes;  the 
Sultan's  deeds,  proved  by  countless  thousands  of  wit- 
nesses, set  forth  in  the  consular  reports,  show  that  they 
are. 

As  soon  as  Abdul  Hamid  had  seized  the  throne,  he 
girded  on  the  sword  of  Osman,  which  I  will  explain 
later  is  equivalent  to  coronation.  The  keys  of  the 
palace  where  Murad  was  imprisoned  he  keeps  in  his 
pocket.  The  nominal  ground  of  his  imprisonment  is 
insanity,  but  he  was  not  insane;  it  was  his  liberality 
of  mind,  his  greatness  of  heart,  and  his  mild  and  kind 
spirit.  He  was  an  exceptional  Turk.  Then  Hamid 
called  Midhad  Pasha  to  him,  gave  him  $25,000,  and 
told  him  to  leave  the  country  and  never  come  back. 
The  country  was  thus  left  without  a  single  man  of 
any  force  of  character  and  a  large  position  combined. 
After  the  death  of  Aziz  the  two  greatest  Turks  were 


148  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Sultan  Murad  and  Midhad  Pasha,  and  had  Murad  not 
been  imprisoned,  and  Midhad  banished,  the  Turkish 
Empire  would  be  an  entirely  different  country,  and 
have  a  different  future. 

Midhad  was  finally  recalled,  but  only  to  be  mur- 
dered. As  the  Sultan  felt  his  position  secure,  he  be- 
gan to  get  rid  of  all  men  of  superior  character  and  ed- 
ucation. Some  he  banished,  some  he  imprisoned, 
some  he  killed.  But  Midhad,  as  the  greatest,  was  the 
most  obnoxious.  He  was  of  course  not  dispatched  at 
once.  He  was  invited  back,  made  governor  of 
Smyrna,  given  the  highest  emoluments,  paid  the 
greatest  honors ;  then  one  night  he  was  suddenly  sum- 
moned to  Constantinople  by  the  Sultan.  He  knew  it 
was  the  death-call,  and  fled  to  the  French  consulate 
for  shelter,  but  the  consul  was  afraid  to  protect  him. 
Finally  he  was  taken  by  force  to  Constantinople,  tried 
before  a  tribunal  of  course  packed  by  the  Sultan,  and 
condemned  to  death.  But  the  kind-hearted  Sultan 
commuted  the  death  sentence  to  banishment  and  hard 
labor  for  life,  and  quietly  ordered  the  officers  who 
were  going  to  take  him  to  banishment  to  kill  him  in- 
stead, which  they  did. 

After  he  had  got  rid  of  all  the  great  Turks,  he  ap- 
pointed a  host  of  ignorant  and  cruel  ruffians  as  gov- 
ernors, sub-governors,  and  generals;  like  Hadjii  Has- 
san Pasha,  governor  of  Beshick-Tash  near  the  Sultanas 
palace,  and  whose  business  is  to  watch  over  the  Sultan, 
and  who  cannot  read  or  write.  He  prefers  ignorance, 
because  it  means  fanaticism,  and  he  thinks  cannot 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  149 

plot  against  him.  He  dreads  and  hates  education 
and  the  educated,  though  he  makes  a  show  of  en- 
couraging them.  He  taxed  the  people  for  public 
schools  and  put  up  magnificent  buildings,  but  there 
are  few  if  any  scholars  in  them;  they  were  not  built 
for  educational  purposes,  but  for  a  show,  and  if  neces- 
sary, for  barracks  in  the  future.  All  the  same,  he 
has  his  agents  in  Europe  and  America  chant  his 
praises  as  a  lover  of  learning.  Parents  will  not  send 
their  children  to  them  anyw^ay,  for  there  are  not  com- 
petent teachers  in  them ;  there  are  a  very  few  ignorant 
Mohammedan  teachers,  but  even  they  are  so  corrupt 
morally  that  no  one  dares  trust  his  boy  or  girl  with 
them.  The  Sultan  professed  that  people  of  all  nation- 
alities and  religions  would  have  equal  privileges  in 
his  public  schools,  therefore  he  ordered  all  to  contribute 
money  for  them.  He  raised  the  farmers'  tax  from  one- 
tenth  to  one-eighth  of  the  crops  on  pretense  of  support- 
ing the  public  schools.  Of  course  he  got  most  of  it 
from  the  Armenians,  but  there  is  not  an  Armenian 
teacher  or  child  in  them. 

Abdul  Hamid  is  a  stupendous  hypocrite  and  char- 
latan; he  makes  a  great  pretense  of  wisdom,  religion, 
and  morality,  and  he  has  not  a  spark  of  either  one. 
His  wisdom  is  only  the  animal  cunning  of  a  jealous, 
cruel,  suspicious  brute,  his  morals  simply  do  not  exist, 
and  his  religion  is  pure  sham.  It  is  often  reported  that 
he  is  very  religious.  All  that  it  amounts  to  is  that 
every  Friday  (the  Mohammedan  Sunday)  he  goes  to 
the  mosque  to  worship  (a  ceremony  called  selamlik). 


150  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

with  several  thousand  soldiers  lining  the  roads  from 
the  palace  to  the  mosque  to  prevent  his  assassination, 
of  which  he  is  in  hourly  fear;  that  once  a  year  he  goes 
to  the  old  Seraglio  and  pays  tribute  to  the  mantle  of 
Mohammed  and  other  relics,  kissing  the  slipper,  coat, 
and  beard  of  the  prophet;  and  he  worships  in  the 
mosque  of  St.  Sophia  as  a  conqueror.  All  this  is 
merely  for  show,  to  please  the  fanatic  Mohammedans. 
He  advertises  himself  as  a  temperance  man,  too,  but  he 
drinks  to  excess  privately.  In  a  word,  he  is  thoroughly 
false  from  top  to  bottom,  pretending  all  good,  and 
doing  all  evil. 

His  officers  of  course  imitate  him;  most  of  them 
are  absolute  infidels,  believing  in  nothing,  but  pro- 
fessing great  devotion.  I  knew  a  governor  of  this 
stamp.  He  used  to  worship  at  the  mosque,  and  even 
ordered  a  hair  of  Mohammed's  whiskers  to  be  brought 
from  Constantinople  to  please  the  Mohammedan  pop- 
ulation. He  never  drank  a  drop  of  liquor  in  public, 
but  privately  drank  all  he  could  hold.  He  had  plenty 
of  fellows.  For  instance,  Khalil  Rifat  Pasha,  the 
present  Grand  Yezir,  appointed  a  few  months  ago, 
has  been  governor  of  several  different  provinces,  and 
notorious  in  all  as  a  great  hypocrite  and  a  thoroughly 
corrupt  man,  full  of  lust  and  profligacy.  When  a 
European  or  a  native  Christian  of  high  position  called 
on  him,  he  would  treat  the  visitor  with  great  polite- 
ness, promise  anything  he  asked,  say,  "  take  my  word 
of  honor,"  and  assure  him  of  his  entire  sincerity;  as 
soon  as  he  was  gone,  Khalil  would  curse  him,  and  call 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  151 

him  a  heathen  dog,  say  to  another  Mohammedan,  "  See 
how  that  Christian  hog  believed  what  I  said  1  "  and 
keep  not  a  word  of  his  promises. 

The  Sultan  is  just  the  same.  He  is  outwardly 
very  pleasant,  very  gentlemanly,  very  humane.  He 
will  promise  almost  anything,  but  he  will  do  nothing, 
and  he  calls  his  enraptured  guests  dogs  and  hogs  behind 
their  backs.  Who  knows  how  many  times  he  has 
called  Lord  Salisbury,  the  German  'Emperor,  or  the 
Russian  Czar,  who  are  helping  him  to  kill  the  Ar- 
menians, heathen  dogs  ?  See  the  promises  of  the 
Sultan  in  1878,  in  the  Berlin  Treaty,  Article  61: — 
"  The  Sublime  Porte  undertakes  to  carry  out  without 
further  delay  the  improvements  and  reforms  de- 
manded by  local  requirements  in  the  provinces  in- 
habited by  the  Armenians,  and  to  guarantee  their 
security  against  Circassians  and  Kurds.  It  will 
periodically  make  known  the  steps  taken  to  this  ef- 
fect to  the  powers,  who  will  superintend  their  applica- 
tion." These  promises  were  made  eighteen  years 
ago,  and  the  reforms  were  to  be  made  "  without  further 
delay."  His  reforms  have  consisted  in  ordering  Circas- 
sians and  Kurds  to  murder  and  plunder  them.  Since 
the  Berlin  Treaty,  the  Sultan,  calling  the  European 
kings,  emperors,  and  princes  heathen  hogs  and  Chris- 
tian dogs,  directly  and  indirectly  has  killed  200,000 
Armenians.     That  was  his  reform. 

When  he  seized  the  throne,  Turkey  had  40,000,000 
people,  and  the  Sultan  thought  his  power  was  irresis- 
tible.    He  let  loose  a  horde  of  Circassians  to  massacre 


152  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

the  Bulgarians,  just  as  he  has  let  loose  the  Kurds  to 
massacre  the  Armenians.  But  the  Bulgarians  are 
Slavs,  and  belong  to  the  Greek  Church,  and  the  Rus- 
sian Czar,  Alexander,  grandfather  of  the  present  Czar, 
interfered  in  their  favor.  This  excited  the  fears  of 
the  other  powers,  and  a  Congress  was  held  in  Con- 
stantinople to  settle  the  question.  Lord  Salisbury 
came  from  England,  Count  Ignatieff  from  Russia,  and 
others  from  other  parts  of  Europe,  gathered  in  a  beauti- 
ful palace  (now  the  admiralty)  on  the  shores  of  the 
Golden  Horn  of  sweet  waters,  discussed  the  question, 
and  decided  that  the  Bulgarian  atrocities  must  stop, 
Bulgaria  be  reformed  and  allowed  to  govern  itself  in- 
ternally, and  that  Turkey  must  not  fight  Russia  be- 
cause it  w^as  too  weak.  This  decision  was  communi- 
cated to  the  Sultan,  and  he  w^as  furious:  he  would  not 
grant  freedom  or  a  government  to  Bulgaria,  and  he 
was  quite  able  to  fight  Russia.  Finally  he  refused 
flatly  to  accept  the  decision,  and  called  a  Turkish  Con- 
gress to  give  their  "  opinion."  Of  course  they  gave  what 
Avas  wanted,  and  pronounced  in  favor  of  a  war  with 
Russia.  A  few  were  bold  enough  to  disfavor  it,  and 
the  Sultan  punished  them.  One  of  these  was  Hagop 
Efendi  Madteosian,  the  representative  of  the  Protes- 
tant Armenian  community.  Another  was  a  thought- 
ful, experienced  Turk,  and  when  the  Sultan  asked  him 
his  reason  for  opposing  the  war,  he  related  the  follow- 
ing parable: 

"  There  was  once  a  miser  whom  the  king  gave  his 
choice  of  three  things :  to  eat  five  pounds  of  raw  onions 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.         153 

without  bread  at  one  meal,  to  receive  five  hundred 
lashes  on  the  bare  back,  or  to  pay  $5,000.  The  miser 
could  not  bear  to  lose  so  much  money;  he  could  not 
endure  such  a  flogging;  and  he  chose  to  eat  the  onions. 
After  eating  a  pound  or  so  their  bitterness  and  rank- 
ness  nauseated  him,  and  he  concluded  to  take  the 
whipping.  He  stood  about  a  hundred  lashes,  and  saw 
that  he  should  die  under  it;  and  decided  to  pay  the 
$5,000  after  all."  "  [NTow,"  said  the  wise  Turk,  "  this 
illustrates  what  I  mean.  If  you  go  to  war  with  Russia, 
you  will  sacrifice  many  thousands  of  soldiers,  which  is 
a  very  bitter  thing  to  digest ;  then  you  will  lose  Euro- 
pean Turkey,  and  finally  you  will  have  to  pay  millions 
of  dollars  indemnity  and  ruin  the  country.  I  cannot 
approve  the  war."  The  Sultan  cried  out  in  rage, 
"  Begone,  you  old  crank!  I  will  not  listen  to  any  more 
foolish  words  from  you.  I  shall  conquer  the  Czar, 
enlarge  the  country,  and  strengthen  my  kingdom." 
He  did  go  to  war  in  1876,  was  whipped  by  the  Czar, 
and  lost  almost  the  whole  of  European  Turkey  and 
other  parts  of  the  empire,  with  22,000,000  people: 
Roumania,  Bulgaria,  Servia,  Bosnia,  Herzegovina, 
part  of  Macedonia,  part  of  Armenia,  Cyprus,  and  after- 
wards Egypt.  He  lost  many  thousands  of  soldiers 
and  millions  of  dollars,  and  besides  has  had  to  pay  mil- 
lions of  dollars  indemnity  to  Russia.  And  the  Sultan 
is  called  an  "  able  man  "  and  "  wise  ruler  "  !  These 
things  look  like  it. 

After  the  war  and  the  loss  of  the  provinces,  he  en- 
couraged the  Mohammedan  population  of  European 


154  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Turkey  to  emigrate  to  Asiatic  Turkey,  that  they 
might  not  live  under  Christians,  and  that  they  might 
increase  the  number  of  Mohammedans  in  the  Asiatic 
part.  The  slaughter  of  the  Armenians  and  the  con- 
fiscation of  their  property  forms  part  of  the  scheme 
to  make  room  for  them.  Before  his  time  the  Arme- 
nians in  Armenia  outnumbered  the  Turks;  but  the 
massacres,  the  occupation  of  the  farms  and  houses  by 
the  savages  let  loose  on  them,  and  the  emigration  of 
many  more  Armenians  to  Persia  and  Russia,  have 
greatly  diminished  their  numbers.  Of  course  they 
are  not  permitted  to  emigrate,  they  simply  fly.  About 
200,000  have  actually  perished.  As  to  the  forced 
conversions,  the  Sultan  does  not  care  a  particle  for 
Islamism,  but  wants  to  please  the  Moslem  and  finds 
this  an  agreeable  way  to  do  it.  As  to  the  converts 
from  Islamism  to  Christianity,  they  are  ordered  to  go 
to  Constantinople  and  are  killed  there.  Hundreds 
and  thousands  of  the  Mohammedan  Turks  are  Chris- 
tians in  secret,  but  do  not  dare  to  confess  it.  These  are 
the  ones  who  helped  and  protected  the  Armenians 
during  the  recent  atrocities.  Some  six  years  ago  a 
number  of  such  professed  the  Christian  religion  pub- 
licly;  they  were  at  once  ordered  to  go  to  Constantinople 
and  every  one  of  them  was  murdered  by  order  of  the 
Sultan.  When  the  representatives  of  the  Christian 
powers  asked  about  them  the  Sultan  denied  that  they 
had  come  there  at  all.  This  was  the  method  of  their 
assassination:  The  Sultan  has  several  pleasure  boats, 
and  in  one  of  these  boats  he  fitted  up  an  air-tight  room 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  165 

with  an  air-pump;  each  night  one  of  the  converts  was 
taken  from  prison  and  put  into  this  room,  the  air 
was  pumped  out,  and  he  was  suffocated ;  then  an  iron 
chain  was  hooked  round  him,  and  he  was  thrown  into 
the  Bosphorus.  One  by  one  all  of  them  were  so  mur- 
dered. How  did  the  author  of  this  book  discover  the 
secret  ?  Well,  when  in  Constantinople,  I  had  an  in- 
timate friend  among  the  engineers;  the  engineer  of 
this  death  boat  told  my  friend  about  it,  and  he  told  me. 
And  the  Sultan  is  not  simply  a  murderer  by  proxy 
and  official  order;  he  is  a  murderer  himself  personally. 
When  in  Constantinople,  I  learned  from  several  au- 
thoritative sources  that  he  killed  with  his  own  revolver 
several  of  his  servants,  for  no  cause  whatever,  but 
merely  from  suspicion  or  rage.  He  always  keeps  a 
revolver  in  his  pocket,  and  whomever  in  the  palace  he 
suspects,  he  shoots.  He  is  a  great  coward.  I  heard 
there  that  he  has  more  than  10,000  detectives,  at  a 
cost  of  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year.  He 
lives  in  Yildiz  Palace,  about  two  miles  from  the  Bos- 
phorus, on  a  hill  on  the  European  shore;  he  has  built 
new  barracks,  and  keeps  a  large  army  around  the 
palace  to  protect  him  from  assassination.  His  "  wis- 
dom "  is  merely  care  for  his  skin.  He  cares  nothing 
for  the  prosperity  of  the  country;  it  is  steadily  growins^ 
poorer,  while  he  is  personally  growing  very  rich. 
That  is  one  reason  why  he  keeps  an  Armenian  treas- 
urer, that  the  Turks  may  not  know  his  secrets.  Even 
the  Turks  are  disgusted  with  him.  I  often  used  to 
hear  the  Turks  say,  "  God  deliver  us  from  the  Sultan 


156  ARI^IENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

and  send  another  master,  even  if  he  is  the  Czar  of 
Russia.''  His  immense  family  costs  him  from  $10,- 
000,000  to  $15,000,000  a  year;  it  is  the  largest  in  the 
world.  I  was  told  that  it  consists  of  5,000  persons, 
counting  the  eunuchs,  the  servants,  and  all.  He  has 
about  500  wives;  he  did  not  marry  them  all;  he  in- 
herited, most  of  them.  When  a  Sultan  dies,  his  suc- 
cessor has  everything  that  belonged  to  him,  including 
his  wives.  And  besides,  he  has  to  marry  a  new  wife 
every  year,  by  the  Mohammedan  and  governmental 
law;  he  has  no  choice  in  the  matter.  That  makes 
twenty  wives  in  the  twenty  years  of  Abdul  Hamid's 
reign.  This  is  the  system:  He  has  at  present  nearly 
one  hundred  young  girls  in  the  harem,  supposed  to  be 
the  most  beautiful  in  the  world;  they  are  presented  to 
him  by  the  governor-generals,  who  get  them  from  the 
local  governors,  who  get  their  offices  by  sending  their 
superiors  the  finest  looking  girls,  or  the  best  Arabian 
horses,  and  the  governor-generals  get  theirs  by  pass- 
ing the  gifts  on  to  the  Sultan.  That  is  the  way  to  get 
office  in  Turkey.  You  may  be  a  murderer,  a  thief, 
or  an  ignoramus,  but  you  can  be  sure  of  an  office 
if  you  can  furnish  a  handsome  girl,  or  a  fine  stallion, 
or  a  few  thousand  dollars.  When  I  was  pastor  in 
Marsovan,  the  local  governor,  Sudduc  Bey,  bought  a 
very  pretty  girl,  and  sent  her  to  the  governor-general 
of  Beshick-Tash  in  Constantinople,  Hadji  Hassan 
Pash,  the  Sultan's  special  guard ;  he  had  got  his  office 
from  that  functionary.  As  to  how  the  girls  are  got, 
it  depends;  if  they  are  Mohammedan,  they  are  bought; 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  167 

if  they  are  Christian  they  are  seized  by  force,  for  the 
Christians  will  not  sell  their  daughters.  Several 
months  ago  Bahri  Pasha,  the  governor-general  of  Van, 
carried  off  several  Armenian  girls  and  presented  them 
to  the  Sultan,  who  decorated  him  for  the  service,  and 
appointed  him  Vali  or  governor-general  of  Adana,  in 
Armenia  Minor.  These  girls  are  kept  in  the  harem 
of  the  Sultan.  When  the  time  comes  to  marry 
another  wife,  he  has  the  girls  stand  in  a  row,  and 
chooses  one  of  them  by  covering  her  face  with  a  silk 
handkerchief;  then  she  is  taken  by  the  eunuchs  to 
the  quarters  allotted  to  the  Sultanas,  and  can  have 
separate  servants,  carriages,  and  eunuchs.  The  life 
of  the  Sultan  and  his  big  family  is  the  most  miserable 
in  the  world.  The  palace  is  a  focus  of  discontent, 
quarrels,  jealousy,  lust,  and  cruelty ;  in  a  word,  it  is  a 
perfect  hell.  The  women  have  nothing  to  do,  and 
nothing  to  think  of;  they  do  not  read,  they  have  no 
work,  and  no  share  even  in  household  management; 
they  are  idle,  and  unspeakably  bored,  and  they  do  what 
most  idle  people  of  both  sexes  do  all  over  the  world  — 
excite  their  nerves  with  sensual  cravings,  and  then 
try  to  satisfy  them.  They  often  manage  to  bring  boys 
to  their  quarters  by  stealth,  and  keep  them  there  for 
weeks  for  purposes  of  lust,  and  the  Sultan  knows 
nothing  about  it;  often  they  bribe  their  eunuchs,  and 
go  to  other  places  to  satisfy  their  desires,  and  the  Sul- 
tan never  hears  of  it.  Aziz  lost  his  life  through  an 
intrigue  of  one  of  his  wives.  With  so  large  and 
exacting  a  family,  it  is  no  wonder  the  Sultan  has  no 


158  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

time  or  energy  left  for  improving  his  administration. 
He  only  finds  a  little  time  to  send  telegrams  to  the 
governors  to  exterminate  the  Armenians. 

THE  SULTANATE  AND  ITS  POWERS. 
There  is  no  coronation  in  Turkey;  instead  the 
Sultans  gird  on  the  sword  of  Osman,  the  founder  of  the 
Ottoman  Dynasty,  which  is  kept  in  the  mosque  of 
Ayoob,  in  Constantinople.  "When  a  Sultan  is  pro- 
claimed, he  goes  to  that  mosque  with  great  pomp,  and 
all  the  members  of  the  Sublime  Porte,  the  civil  of- 
ficers, the  generals,  commanders,  soldiers,  patriarchs 
of  different  religions,  and  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  the 
Mohammedan  religious  head,  follow  him.  But  no 
Christians  enter  that  holy  place,  as  it  is  forbidden 
them.  After  impressive  service,  the  chief  of  the  der- 
vishes of  the  order  of  Mevlair  girds  the  Sultan  with 
the  sword;  then  he  is  officially  recognized  as  emperor. 
Then,  as  God's  will  be  done.  Sultan's  will  be  done, 
because  the  Sultan  represents  God  in  heaven,  Moham- 
med in  Paradise,  Osman  on  the  earth.  He  has  three 
offices,  God's  office,  Mohammed's  office,  Osman's  of- 
fice. He  is  as  infallible  as  the  Pope  of  Rome,  and 
temporally  everything  belongs  to  him  without  excep- 
tion, men,  women,  children,  money,  property,  just  as 
everything  belongs  to  God.  A  Turkish  proverb  says, 
"Mai,  jan,  erz,  Padishahin  dir  "  (Property,  soul, 
and  virtue  belong  to  the  Sultan).  He  can  claim  any 
man's  wife  for  his  enjoyment  at  any  time ;  his  son,  or 
his  daughter,  or  his  money,  or  his  property  of  any 
sort;  there  is  no  use  refusing  —  a  man  does  not  own 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  169 

fiimself,  or  his  wife,  or  his  children;  the  Sultan  owns 
them  all,  and  it  is  only  by  his  grace  that  he  permits 
his  subjects  to  have  anything,  and  he  can  resume  it  at 
any  time,  for  half  an  hour,  or  forever.  Besides,  any- 
body's head  would  come  off  that  refused.  If  the  Sul- 
tan asks  a  millionaire  in  Constantinople  to  send  him 
half  his  wealth,  the  millionaire  must  not  refuse;  he 
himself  is  simply  a  steward;  if  the  Sultan  wants  it  all 
it  must  go  to  him,  and  the  millionaire  must  beg  bread 
for  a  living.  At  the  same  time  he  must  praise  the 
Sultan,  because  the  Sultan  is  God  on  earth.  If  he 
refuses  to  send  his  wife  or  daughter  to  the  Sultan's 
bed,  or  his  son  or  money  for  whatever  uses  they  are 
wanted  to  supply,  the  Sultan  has  a  right  to  kill  him, 
and  take  all  his  possessions  by  force,  because  the  man 
was  not  a  faithful  slave. 

"  But  I  cannot  believe  this,"  says  the  American  in 
his  free,  peaceful  country.  "  It  is  not  natural.  How 
can  a  man  be  considered  as  God,  owning  everything, 
not  in  a  spiritual  sense,  but  in  a  very  material,  pecun- 
iary, and  male  sense  ?  " 

Go  to  Turkey,  get  naturalized  there,  become  a 
Turkish  subject,  and  you  will  understand  it  fully,  and 
perhaps  shockingly.  Of  course,  if  you  go  as  an  Amer- 
ican citizen,  with  plenty  of  money,  travel  under  the 
escort  of  soldiers,  or  Zapties,  get  presented  by  the 
American  minister  to  the  Sultan,  are  entertained  in 
the  palace,  and  receive  handsome  presents,  you  will 
not  understand  it  at  all ;  very  likely  not  believe  it ;  you 
may  come  home  and  praise  the  Sultan  like  the  rest. 


160  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

The  natural  question  is,  I  know,  "  Do  the  Sultans, 
any  of  them,  carry  this  theory  into  practice  ?  Has 
the  present  Sultan  ? ''  Yes;  and  not  once  or  twice, 
but  thousands  of  times.  To  be  sure,  they  do  not  go  in 
person  on  such  errands;  they  depute  their  officers  and 
soldiers  to  do  what  they  wish.  I  have  shown  how  the 
history  of  the  Armenians  illustrates  it,  in  the 
seizure  of  their  property,  the  forced  conversion 
of  their  boys  into  troops  to  fight  against  their  parents, 
the  appropriation  of  their  wives  and  daughters,  to  be 
given  to  the  Sultan.  As  to  the  present  Sultan,  I  have 
already  spoken  of  Bahri  Pasha's  exploit  in  carrying  off 
by  force  several  Armenian  young  brides,  and  girls, 
and  presenting  them  to  the  Sultan,  and  his  being  dec- 
orated and  promoted  for  it.  While  on  his  way,  he 
had  to  pass  through  Trebizond,  and  the  Armenians 
fired  on  him  to  rescue  the  women,  but  failed.  They 
forgot  that  all  women  belong  to  the  Sultan,  and  they 
made  a  mistake  in  firing  on  one  of  his  officers.  He 
at  once  ordered  all  the  Armenians  in  Trebizond  to  be 
slaughtered.  Some  of  the  richest  of  the  nation  lived 
there;  every  penny  was  taken  from  them,  most  of 
them  were  killed,  and  their  wives  and  children, 
and  those  of  them  who  survived  are  begging  bread. 
And  all  through  Armenia  the  girls  and  young  brides 
are  being  looked  over  to  pick  out  the  best  looking  ones 
for  the  Sultan's  harem. 

Once  for  all,  Armenia  is  not  America.  The 
Turks,  the  Kurds,  the  Circassians,  the  Georgians, 
though    they    may    be    like    Americans,    are    like 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  161 

American  Indians  only.  The  Sultan  is  not  a 
president,  and  his  divine  right  to  kill  any  man,  appro- 
priate any  property,  or  enjoy  any  woman,  is  not  like 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  People  who 
think  that  the  Sultan  would  not  do  or  be  allowed  to  do 
such  things  because  no  ruler  they  are  familiar  with 
does  them,  that  it  is  impossible  they  can  happen  in  Ar- 
menia because  they  could  not  happen  in  America,  that 
the  Armenians  must  have  provoked  them  in  some  way, 
because  it  is  hard  to  believe  any  ruler  could  do  so  in 
pure  wantonness  or  from  deliberate  policy,  are  reason- 
ing from  wrong  premises.  They  did  happen,  and  are 
happening, —  see  the  consular  reports;  were  perfectly 
unprovoked, —  see  the  plentiful  proofs  that  the  Ar- 
menians carry  no  arms,  and  cannot  even  defend  them- 
selves from  murder,  or  their  wives  from  dishonor 
before  their  eyes.  Why  it  is  done,  and  how  much 
more  is  to  be  done,  I  have  explained  repeatedly. 

THE  SUBLIME  PORTE  AND  THE  MOHAMMEDAN 
RELIGION. 

The  Sublime  Porte,  or  in  Turkish  Babi-Ali,  is  the 
cabinet  of  the  Turkish  government,  as  follows: — 

1.  The  Grand  Vezir,  or  Prime  Minister. 

2.  The  Minister  of  the  Interior. 

3.  The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

4.  The  Superintendent  of  the  Cabinet  Council. 

5.  The  Commander-in-chief,  or  Minister  of  War. 

6.  The  Minister  of  the  T^avy. 

7.  The  Minister  of  Finance. 

11 


162  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

8.  The  Minister  of  Commerce  and  Public  Buildings. 

9.  The  Minister  of  Sacred  Properties. 

10.  The  Minister  of  Education. 

11.  The  Sheik-ul-Islam,  or  religious  head. 

There  is  no  election  in  Turkey;  all  officers  are 
appointed  by  the  Sultan,  who  can  dismiss  any  of  them 
at  any  time,  and  appoint  some  one  else,  and  I  have 
already  explained  why  he  almost  always  appoints  bad 
ones.  The  Sublime  Porte  has  no  power  to  decide  any- 
thing; it  is  simply  a  farce  council  to  cheat  the  Euro- 
pean powers;  a  dumb  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  Sultan. 
For  instance,  the  Sultan  calls  the  Grand  Yezir,  the 
president  of  the  Sublime  Porte,  into  his  presence,  and 
tells  him  such  a  question  is  to  be  discussed  in  such  a 
way,  and  this  or  that  conclusion  reached.  ^^  Very 
well,  my  Lord  and  Master,"  says  the  Grand  Vezir; 
he  goes  to  the  Sublime  Porte  palace,  and  says  to  the 
council:  "  To-day  I  was  permitted  to  come  into  the 
presence  of  His  Majesty  the  Sultan,  and  he  instructed 
me  that  I  must  bring  such  a  question  before  you, 
and  after  we  discuss  it  in  such  a  manner,  we  must 
come  to  such  a  decision."  Then  all  of  them  stand  up 
and  say,  "  Sultan's  will  be  done,"  and  that  is  all; 
their  "  decision  "  is  announced  to  the  Sultan,  and  he 
"  sanctions  "  it.  There  is  no  discussion  for  days  or 
weeks,  as  in  England  or  here;  it  is  all  cut  short.  The 
Sublime  Porte  can  decide  any  question  in  a  few  min- 
utes. This  is  the  sort  of  thing  Mr.  Carlyle  wanted. 
You  have  seen  the  beautiful  effects  of  it. 

The  question  naturally  arises.  Why  does  the  Sul- 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  163 

tan  keep  a  Sublime  Porte,  since  he  decides  everything 
himself  ? 

There  are  three  reasons. 

First,  it  is  the  old  custom.  All  the  other  Sultans 
have  had  one,  and  he  might  offend  the  Turks  if  he 
abolished  it. 

Second,  as  the  Sultan  can  do  no  wrong,  there  must 
be  somebody  else  to  lay  blame  on.  He  is  the  repre- 
sentative of  God  and  Prophet  Mohammed.  If  there 
is  any  mistake  in  any  decision,  he  is  not  responsible 
for  it :  the  Sublime  Porte  is  responsible. 

Third,  because  he  has  relations  with  the  European 
powers,  and  if  any  decision  needs  to  be  reversed,  it 
can  be  if  it  is  that  of  the  Sublime  Porte;  but  if  it 
were  the  personal  decision  of  the  Sultan  it  could  not 
be  changed,  because  he  is  considered  immutable,  just 
as  God  is. 

When  people  read  about  the  Sublime  Porte  after 
this,  I  hope  they  will  understand  that  there  is  not 
really  any  Sublime  Porte;  that  it  is  a  mere  name,  an 
echo,  a  farce,  a  show  to  bunco  the  world  with. 

Some  newspaper  and  other  writers  think  it  is 
"  impartial  ''  to  say  that  the  Sultan  means  well,  but  he 
has  a  "  corrupt  ministry  ";  that  it  is  the  Sublime  Porte 
that  ruins  the  Turkish  Empire;  if  it  were  left  to  the 
Sultan,  he  would  reform  the  country;  he  would  not  let 
the  Armenians  be  massacred.  Put  no  faith  in  such 
ignorant  rubbish.  The  Sultan  dictates  everything; 
and  if  any  minister  has  the  sense  and  courage  to  sug- 
gest any  improvement,  the  Sultan  dismisses  him,  say- 


164  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

ing  that  it  is  his  own  business  to  consider  the  improve- 
ments of  the  country  and  not  that  of  any  one  else.  The 
governors  would  not  dare  to  order  the  Kurds  and  the 
Turks  to  wreak  their  worst  and  vilest  will  on  the  Ar- 
menians without  direct  orders  from  the  Sultan.  The 
Sultan  originates  all  these  cruelties.  The  recent 
Grand  Yezir,  Said  Pasha,  at  one  time  was  a  very 
decent  Turk.  When  he  differed  with  the  Sultan 
about  massacreing  the  Armenians,  the  Sultan  threat- 
ened to  kill  him,  and  he  had  to  fly  to  the  English 
embassy  for  protection.  Murad  Bey  was  another 
good  Turk  who  remonstrated  against  the  cruelties ;  his 
life  was  threatened,  and  he  fled  to  Europe;  now  he  is 
in  Egypt,  denouncing  the  Sultan  in  the  press  and  in 
letters.  The  Sultan  sentenced  him  to  death,  and 
asked  the  British  government  to  hand  him  over  to 
the  Turkish  officers;  but  the  representative  of  the  Brit- 
ish government  in  Cairo  refused.  Just  before  the 
Armenian  atrocities  in  Constantinople,  the  members 
of  the  Sublime  Porte  tried  to  have  the  Armenian 
grievances  redressed,  and  the  people  pacified ;  the  Sul- 
tan would  have  no  such  pottering,  and  ordered  the  sol- 
diers to  kill  the  Armenians  in  the  streets.  But  this 
was  a  rare  piece  of  virtue  in  the  Porte.  Mostly  they 
are  as  bad  as  the  Sultan  himself,  for  he  appoints  men 
of  his  own  stripe.  Good  men  would  not  be  useful 
tools.  The  Sultan  has  another  trick  of  management; 
before  making  any  one  a  member  of  the  Porte,  he 
tries  to  find  out  whether  he  is  a  friend  to  any  of  the 
ministers  already  in;  if  so,  he  will  not  appoint  him. 


RULERS  OP  THE  OTTOMAN  EiMPIRE.  166 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  man  happens  to  be  an 
enemy  to  one  of  the  members,  he  is  ahnost  sure  of 
appointment.  The  Sublime  Porte,  therefore,  is  a 
group  of  mutual  enemies,  hating  one  another,  and 
ready  to  betray  one  another  at  any  time.  He  thinks 
if  they  are  friendly,  they  may  unite  and  depose  him 
some  day.  Besides  this,  there  are  more  detectives  in 
the  Sublime  Porte,  watching  the  ministers  on  behalf 
of  the  Sultan,  than  there  are  members.  They  keep 
the  Sultan  informed  about  the  situation.  If  any  min- 
ister or  officer  acts  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  Sul- 
tan, he  is  marked  for  death. 

THE  SHEIK-UL-ISLAM. 

Sheik-ul-Islam  means  chief  of  Islam  —  the  Mo- 
hammedan religion.  His  office  is  solely  religious; 
he  has  nothing  to  do  with  politics.  He  sees  that  the 
mosques  and  priests  are  kept  in  order,  and  the  reli- 
gious services  properly  conducted ;  and  there  are  many 
questions  among  the  Mohammedans  which  are  set- 
tled without  going  to  a  magistrate,  by  the  Sheik-ul- 
Islam,  or  by  his  deputies,  called  Muf tees.  These  Muf- 
tees  can  be  found  in  every  city  in  Turkey.  The  Sheik- 
ul-Islam  and  his  representatives  issue  Fetvas  (religious 
decrees)  according  to  the  Koran. 

There  is  no  inconsistency  between  this  and  what  I 
have  said  before  about  the  Sultan  being  the  repre- 
sentative of  Mohammed,  and  therefore  the  chief  of 
his  religion.  Both  the  Sultan  and  the  Sheik-ul-Islam 
are  the  heads  of  it,  just  as  the  Greek  emperor  and  the 
Patriarch  were  of  the  Greek  church,  and  the  relative 


166  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

position  is  about  the  same.  The  Sheik-ul-Islam  is 
the  special  head  of  the  ecclesiastical  organization. 
The  Sultan  appoints  him,  but  once  appointed,  if  he  is 
insubordinate  and  opposes  the  Sultan,  the  latter  can- 
not suppress  or  replace  him  without  grave  scandal  to 
the  Mohammedan  world.  It  is  like  Henry  II  and 
Becket;  it  is  easier  to  make  a  head  of  a  church  than 
to  rule  him  afterwards.  It  is  like  the  Emperors  and 
the  Popes  in  the  Middle  Ages;  and  as  with  them,  some- 
times the  Sheik-ul-Islam  joins  with  political  officers  to 
depose  the  Sultan,  and  his  fetva,  or  decree,  makes  it 
legal.  When  Abdul  Aziz  was  deposed,  the  then 
Sheik-ul-Islam,  Khairollah  Effendi,  issued  the  fetva 
for  it,  reluctantly,  for  Heussein  Avni  Pasha  forced 
him  to  do  it  under  threat  of  death.  As  Heussein's 
own  head  was  in  immediate  peril,  he  had  no  scruples 
about  the  Sheik-ul-Islam's.  Every  fetva  has  two 
questions  and  one  answer.  A  case  is  set  forth;  after 
a  brief  discussion  the  question  Olourni  (To  be  ?)  and 
Olmazmi  (Not  to  be  ?)  are  asked,  and  the  answer 
is  given  as  either  Olour  or  Olmaz  (To  be,  or  ^ot  to 
be).  The  fetva  which  Heussein  forced  the  Sheik-ul- 
Islam  to  sign  was  something  like  this: —  "  If  a  Sultan 
should  prove  to  be  unworthy  to  govern  his  people,  is 
it  necessary  to  uphold  him  or  not  ? "  The  answer 
was  Olmaz,  and  Abdul  Aziz  was  deposed. 

MOHAMMEDANISM  AND  THE  INTERNAL  STATE  OF 
TURKEY. 

l^obody  who  has  not  lived  in  Turkey  can  realize 

how  hopeless,  almost  self-contradictory,  it  is  to  talk 


RULERS  OP  THE  OTTOMAN  EiMPIRE.  167 

of  "  reforming  "  Turkey.  It  could  not  be  reformed 
and  be  Mohammedan  Turkey;  the  lack  of  reform  or 
power  of  reform  is  just  what  makes  it  what  it  is.  The 
root  of  the  evil  is  Mohammedanism  itself;  it  is  em- 
bodied social  stagnation,  corruption,  ultimate  ruin. 
Neither  the  Sultan  nor  the  Turks  can  improve  the 
state  of  the  Empire,  even  if  they  wished.  The  usual 
*'*  broad-minded  "  statements  about  Mohammed  and 
his  religion  are  simply  elaborations  of  ignorance,  made 
up  out  of  men's  own  minds,  and  what  they  think  must 
be  true.  It  is  customary  for  wTiters  to  talk  in 
this  fashion : — "  Mohammedanism  is  a  half-way 
house  to  Christianity;  Mohammed  converted  the  hea- 
then Arabs  to  a  belief  in  the  true  God.  Mohammed 
established  a  great  religion  and  a  great  Empire,"  etc., 
etc.  There  is  no  truth  in  this,  for  all  its  plausible 
sound.  Mohammedanism  is  not  even  on  the  road 
to  Christianity;  and  Arabia,  Asia  Minor,  and  Pales- 
tine were  all  much  better  off  before  the  Mohammedan 
conquest  than  after  it.  Buddhism  and  Brahmanism 
are  better  religions  than  Mohammedanism.  The 
Chinese,  the  Japanese,  the  people  of  India  are  much 
better  than  the  Turks.  The  Chinese  Emperor  and 
the  Japanese  Mikado  are  far  better  men  than  the  Mo- 
hammedan Sultan.  The  heathen  religions  rear  bet- 
ter men  than  Mohammedanism.  The  Mongols  are 
more  humane  and  sympathetic  than  the  Turks.  Hea- 
thenism at  its  worst,  though  a  low  form  of  religion,  is 
really  a  form  of  religion;  but  Mohammedanism  is 
not  a  religion  at  all.     Then  what  is  it  ?     It  is  a  svstem 


168  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

of  imposture  and  false  pretense,  and  of  lives  of  human 
lust  and  cruelty.  Mohammed  practiced  all  these, 
and  his  successors  have  done  the  same,  and  taught  the 
same  ever  since;  and  the  system  means  just  that  now, 
and  nothing  else.  There  is  neither  love  nor  sympa- 
thy, manliness  nor  humanity  in  Mohammedanism. 
Can  a  system  lacking  all  these  be  considered  a  religion? 
This  is  the  substance  of  Mohammed's  teachings: — 
'*  Love  your  fellow  believers,  hate  and  slay  all  who 
refuse  to  accept  your  religion.  Marry  as  many  wives 
as  you  can  afford;  if  you  can  afford  but  one  do  not 
repine,  for  you  shall  have  seven  thousand  to  enjoy 
in  Paradise.  If  you  conquer  a  country,  show  no 
mercy  to  the  people  unless  they  embrace  Islam;  if 
they  refuse,  either  kill  them  or  make  slaves  of  them." 
What  sort  of  reforms  can  you  expect  in  Armenia,  or  in 
Turkey,  when  the  very  religion  that  is  to  make  people 
better,  inculcates  such  principles  ?  If  one  does  not 
know  a  language  he  cannot  speak  it;  if  he  has  not  a 
principle  he  will  not  practice  it;  how  can  the  Sultan, 
a  vicious  man  to  begin  with,  trained  in  a  religion  cal- 
culated to  make  a  cruel  and  licentious  animal  even  out 
of  a  decent  man,  reform  anything  ?  His  very  religion 
forbids  it;  he  cares  nothing  for  the  religion  when  it 
stands  in  his  way,  but  he  will  follow  its  injunctions  to 
please  the  Mohammedans,  especially  when  they  grat- 
ify and  justify  his  worst  passions. 

I  shall  be  asked  if  the  Mohammedans  do  not  be- 
lieve in  one  God,  and  the  same  God  as  the  Christian; 
and  if  that  does  not  make  it  a  religion,  and  very  near 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  1G9 

that  oi  Christians.  Yes,  they  do;  and  so  do  the  devils. 
That  is  what  Mohammedanism  is,  the  religion  of 
devils.  Host  of  the  Turkish  conversation  consists  of 
oaths  and  smut.  I  do  not  mean  among  the  common 
people  —  theirs  is  nothing  else  —  but  of  the  ed\icated 
upper  classes,  dieir  scholars,  teachers,  governors,  and 
priests.  I  came  in  contact  with  them  for  years,  and 
I  hated  to  listen  to  them,  their  talk  was  so  full  of  curs- 
ing and  filth.  You  never  see  the  fruits  of  the  spirit 
in  them;  only  the  fruits  of  the  flesh.  They  do  not 
understand  what  spiritual  life  is ;  with  them  all  is  sense, 
—  eating  and  drinking,  finery  and  lust, —  lust  above 
all,  everywhere  and  always,  like  cattle.  They  seem 
never  able  to  forget  sex  and  its  uses.  Some  people 
think  the  climate  makes  the  Turks  lazy;  it  is 
enough  on  that  point  to  say  that  Constantinople  is 
almost  exactly  in  the  same  latitude  as  New  York,  and 
Smyrna  as  St.  Louis.  The  Turkish  climate  is  a  tem- 
perate and  salubrious  one,  with  no  greater  extremes  of 
temperature  than  the  United  States;  not  tropical  or 
enervating.  Nor  is  it  their  race  that  makes  the  Turks 
lazy;  they  were  not  so  at  the  outset.  It  is  their  reli- 
gion and  the  habits  it  breeds.  Their  minds  and 
bodies  are  enervated  by  the  unwholesome  nervous 
excitation  of  lust,  their  energies  further  sapped  by  a 
falsehood  that  leaves  no  room  for  aspiration,  their 
vanity  as  a  military  caste  in  not  working  takes  all  the 
spirit  of  manly  enterprise  out  of  them.  If  the  cli- 
mate enervates  the  Turks,  why  does  it  not  the  Chris- 
tians ?     In  the  very  same  cities  you  find  the  Chris- 


170  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

tians  rich,  enterprising,  full  of  energy;  the  Turlts  poor, 
ignorant,  unambitious,  and  lazy.  The  religion  makes 
all  the  difference.  Christianity  teaches  purity,  sym- 
pathy, and  industry;  Mohammedanism  teaches  im- 
purity, hate,  and  sloth.  The  pure  life  of  the  Chris- 
tian conserves  all  the  energies;  the  hopes  of  Christian- 
ity give  vigor  and  endurance.  The  promise  of  each 
for  the  future  gives  the  clue  to  the  history  of  each; 
the  Christian  heaven  of  unity  with  God,  the  Moham- 
medan heaven  of  a  lot  of  street  dogs  and  sluts. 

Here  I  must  comment  on  the  extraordinary  state- 
ment of  Alexander  Webb,  at  the  Parliament  of  Ee- 
ligions  in  Chicago.  Mr.  Webb  was  an  American 
consul  in  the  East,  and  became  a  convert  to  Moham- 
medanism, or  professes  to  have  done  so;  it  is  not  very 
hard  to  guess  what  part  of  that  so-called  religion  at- 
tracted him.  He  said  the  religion  of  Mohammed 
teaches  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  and  the  Brotherhood 
of  Humanity.  Now,  as  a  fact,  Mohammedans  believe 
in  neither  one.  As  to  God,  they  believe  he  is  a  mon- 
arch, and  that  no  one  can  approach  him ;  they  have  the 
same  idea  the  Jews  had.  "  Our  Father  who  art  in 
Heaven  "  is  a  purely  Christian  aspiration,  not  that 
of  any  other  religion  on  earth ;  it  is  Christianity  alone 
that  teaches  the  Fatherhood  of  God.  And  Moham- 
medans directly  ridicule  the  idea  of  God  the  Father,  or 
of  a  Son  of  God.  They  say  God  is  not  married,  and 
cannot  be  a  father;  and  that  when  they  go  to  heaven 
they  will  not  be  in  his  presence,  nor  wish  to  be,  but  will 
have  a  separate  heaven,  to  enjoy  their  wives  in.     They 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  171 

look  at  everything  from  a  sexual  or  sensual  stand- 
point. As  to  brotherhood,  there  is  no  such  thing  in 
Mohammedanism;  even  sons  of  the  same  mother  are 
not  brothers  in  feeling.  A  Mohammedan  has  not  con- 
fidence enough,  even  in  his  brother,  to  show  his  wives  to 
him,  and  even  in  heaven  they  will  have  to  live  in  dif- 
ferent places  on  account  of  their  wives.  How  can 
there  be  brotherhood  without  love  or  purity  ?  And 
we  have  seen  and  know  what  the  ''  brotherhood  "  of 
Mohammedans  to  other  nations  and  religions  is;  there 
can  be  no  relations  whatever  but  of  master  and  slave, 
or  murderer  and  corpse,  or  violator  and  victim.  The 
impudence  of  this  talk  of  brotherhood  is  fathomless. 

And  then  he  said  he  was  proud  to  be  a  convert  to 
Islam,  because  that  meant  believing  in  purity  !  This 
is  more  outrageously  impudent  still.  His  ideal  of 
purity  must  be  a  curious  one  if  he  finds  more  in  Mo- 
hammedanism than  in  Christianity;  in  a  religion  with 
a  heaven  stuffed  with  concubines  than  in  one  where 
even  earth  is  sprinkled  with  nuns;  in  one  that  makes 
Titanic  lust  its  crowning  reward,  as  if  men  were  so 
feeble  in  sexual  desires  that  they  needed  to  be  stim- 
ulated, than  in  one  which  makes  chastity  its  key-note, 
and  pronounces  the  very  coveting  of  more  than  one 
wife  a  spiritual  adultery;  in  one  that  prescribes  poly- 
gamy (that  is,  keeping  erotic  turbulence  stirred  up 
much  oftener  and  longer  than  it  naturally  would  be), 
than  in  one  that  allows  but  one  wife,  and  smiles  on 
getting  along  without  that ;  in  one  whose  devotees  are 
ashamed  of  foul  language,  and  even  of  foul  thoughts, 


172  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

than  in  one  whose  devotees  are  rank  and  rotten  with 
lustful  ideas  and  talk  to  correspond. 

The  whole  Mohammedan  system  is  designed  to 
make  the  gratification  of  lust  as  easy  and  plentiful 
as  possible  short  of  a  promiscuity  that  would  lead 
to  civil  anarchy.  A  Mohammedan  can  divorce  his 
wife  any  time  he  pleases  by  paying  back  her  dower, 
and  marry  another  and  do  likewise;  every  week,  or 
day  if  he  sees  fit,  and  he  can  remarry  and  redivorce 
the  first  one  as  often  as  he  pleases.  It  is  like  trading 
horses;  as  little  sentiment  or  morality  in  one  as  the 
other;  the  slightest  possible  regulation  of  sheer  animal 
desire.  There  is,  however,  one  form  or  divorce  which 
is  complete,  and  does  not  allow  of  remarriage  until 
another  marriage  has  intervened;  that  is  called  the 
achden  docuza  (three  to  nine)  divorce,  from  the  terms 
the  husband  uses  in  doing  it,  "I  divorce  you  three  to 
nine."  Nobody  knows  what  it  means  or  meant. 
After  this,  if  he  wants  his  wife  back,  he  must  get 
somebody  else  to  marry  and  divorce  her  regularly; 
and  as  this  is  perilous,  because  the  second  husband  after 
marrying  her  may  take  a  notion  to  keep  her,  or  any- 
way keep  her  much  longer  than  the  first  one  relishes, 
or  demand  a  large  sum  of  money,  the  usual  plan  is 
to  fix  on  a  very  poor  man,  or  a  blind  beggar  (preferably 
blind,  so  that  he  cannot  see  the  wife,  and  be  so 
charmed  by  her  beauties  that  he  will  wish  to  keep  her), 
get  him  to  become  the  woman's  husband  for  a  few 
days,  and  then  pay  him  something  to  divorce  her. 
Then  the  first  can  marry  her  again  if  he  chooses. 


RULERS  OF  THE  OTTOMAN  EMPIRE.  173 

There  are  many  more  specimens  of  Mohamme- 
dan "  purity  "  too  shameful  to  write,  and  too  shame- 
ful to  read ;  I  cannot  soil  the  paper  with  them.  Doubt- 
less they  are  part  of  Mr.  Webb's  pride  in  being  a  Mo- 
hammedan. But  I  must  mention  one  more  engine  of 
corruption  which  lies  at  the  very  root  of  Mohamme- 
danism itself:  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  to  the  birth- 
place of  Mohammed  in  Arabia.  Once  a  year  Mo- 
hammedan pilgrims  from  every  quarter  of  the  world 
go  to  Mecca  to  pay  homage  to  their  beloved  prophet; 
averaging  a  million  a  year.  It  is  their  duty  to  sac- 
rifice animals  there,  and  about  a  million  are  so  sac- 
rificed. This  is  done  on  the  hills  which  surround  the 
great  temple,  the  greatest  mosque  in  the  world.  It 
is  a  square  building,  which  covers  several  acres  of 
land.  Just  in  the  cluster  is  the  Holy  Well,  called 
Zemzem.  Mohammedans  believe  that  if  they  drink 
of  that  water,  hell-fire  cannot  burn  them,  and  every 
pilgrim  does  so;  then  they  begin  to  die  from  cholera 
to  the  tune  of  fifty  thousand  a  year  or  so,  for  the  well 
is  a  mere  cesspool.  You  see,  after  cutting  the  throats 
of  the  animals,  they  leave  the  filth  and  blood  just  as 
they  are,  for  the  Mohammedan  religion  does  not  allow 
the  sacrifice  to  be  touched.  The  sandy  soil  absorbs 
this  putrid  filth,  which  leaches  into  the  well.  But  it 
is  a  great  merit  to  die  on  the  spot  where  Mohammed 
was  born ;  one  goes  straight  to  heaven  if  he  does.  That 
is  not  the  worst,  however;  they  fill  bottles  with  that 
water,  and  carr}^  it  to  their  families,  and  friends 
throughout  the  Turkish  Empire,  Persia,  and  India, 
from  which  cholera  is  spread  abroad  over  the  world. 


174  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

The  pilgrims  do  not  take  their  wives  as  far  as  tlie 
birthplace  of  Mohammed,  but  leave  them  half-way, 
and  on  reaching  Mecca  they  marry  temporarily. 
About  20,000  prostitutes  there  make  a  business  of 
being  short-term  wives  of  the  pilgrims,  getting  $5 
to  $25  from  each,  and  being  his  wife  for  anywhere 
from  a  day  to  a  fortnight,  so  that  each  woman  marries 
from  fifty  to  a  hundred  pilgrims  a  year.  This  is  not 
prostitution;  it  is  religion  —  and  Mohammedan 
''  purity."  Mecca  is  considered  the  most  holy  spot 
on  earth  by  ^lohammedans;  but  it  is  the  most  corrupt 
spot.  It  is  a  hell.  And  the  Mohammedan  Paradise 
is  worse  than  Mecca. 

In  one  word,  Mohammedans  have  no  right  to  exist, 
politically,  socially,  or  religiously.  In  the  first  they 
have  wrought  nothing  but  ruin ;  in  the  second  nothing 
but  corruption;  in  the  third  nothing  but  devilishness. 
They  are  working  nothing  else  now  in  either  of  the 
three.  They  have  never  built  up  anything ;  they  are 
pure  destroyers.  Anything  which  is  built  in  any  Mo- 
hammedan country  is  built  both  by  Christian  money 
and  by  Christian  architects;  Mohammedans  have  nei- 
ther the  money,  the  architects,  nor  the  sense.  The 
day  one  becomes  a  Mohammedan  he  loses  his  intellect, 
his  skill,  and  his  common  sense.  Mohammedanism  is  a 
poison  fatal  to  any  good  gifts  or  graces ;  it  cultivates  in 
him  falsehood,  cruelty,  and  lust.  It  was  sent  by  God 
for  a  curse  to  the  Christians;  as  a  punishment,  just  as 
the  Philistines  were  sent  to  the  people  of  Israel. 


THE    GREAT    POWERS    AND    THE    ARME- 
NIAN QUESTION. 

There  was  no  Armenian  question  till  the  time 
of  the  present  Sultan;  under  Abdul  Aziz,  whatever 
his  faults  as  a  ruler  or  a  man,  the  Armenians  prospered 
well,  and  though  the  whole  system  of  administration 
is  bad,  corrupt,  and  uncertain,  they  had  no  special 
grievance  as  a  race  to  complain  of.  I  have  already 
referred  to  Abdul  Hamid's  usurpation,  his  Bulgarian 
atrocities,  his  famous  war  against  Russia,  and  the 
Congress  in  Berlin  in  which  the  powers  ordered  him 
to  execute  reforms  in  Armenia,  and  report  to  them, 
and  the  Sultan  signed  the  treaty  promising  to  do  it. 
This  was  in  1878.  The  Sultan  lost  no  time  in  violat- 
ing the  treaty,  and  not  only  so,  but  in  acting  grossly 
contrary  to  it.  He  called  in  Circassians  and  Kurds  to 
settle  in  the  midst  of  Armenians,  and  confiscated  Ar- 
menian lands  for  them  to  settle  on.  The  Armenians 
were  far  worse  off  than  before  the  treaty;  but  foolishly 
depending  on  the  powers,  they  did  not  try  to  arm 
themselves  for  the  future.  They  have  had  plenty  of 
chance  to  repent  in  blood  and  tears,  agony  and  shame, 
their  faith  that  Christian  nations  would  not  ignore  a 
solemn  obligation,  voluntarily  entered  into,  to  save 

(175) 


176  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

a  whole  people  from  being  exterminated  by  fire  and 
sword.  England  was  the  worst  of  these  sinners,  for 
she  had  taken  on  special  obligations  by  a  separate 
treaty,  and  forced  those  who  would  have  taken  the 
Sultan  by  the  throat  to  let  go. 

THE  ANGLO-TURKISH  CONVENTION. 

This  took  place  at  the  same  time  as  the  Berlin 
Congress;  it  was  simply  between  Turkey  and  Eng- 
land. 

Article  I.  "  If  Batoum,  Ardahan,  Kars,  or  any  of  them 
shall  be  retained  by  Russia,  and  if  any  attempt  shall  be 
made  at  any  future  time  by  Russia  to  take  possession  of 
any  further  territory  of  His  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Sultan,  in 
Asia,  as  fixed  by  the  Definitive  Treaty  of  Peace,  England 
engages  to  join  His  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Sultan,  in  defend- 
ing them  by  force  of  arms. 

"  In  return,  His  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Sultan,  promises 
England  to  introduce  necessary  reforms,  to  be  agreed  upon 
later  between  the  two  powers,  into  the  government  and  for 
the  protection  of  the  Christian  and  other  subjects  of  the 
Porte  in  these  territories;  and  in  order  to  enable  England  to 
make  necossaiT  provisions  for  executing  her  engagement. 
His  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Sultan,  further  consents  to  assign 
the  Island  of  Cyprus  to  be  occupied  and  administered  by 
England. 

Article  VIL  "  If  Rissia  restores  to  Turkey  Kars  and  the 
other  conquests  made  by  her  in  Armenia  during  the  last  war, 
the  Island  of  Cyprus  will  be  evacuated  by  England,  and  the 
convention  of  the  4th  of  June,  1878,  will  be  at  an  end." 

When  England  was  preparing  this  private  treaty, 
the  English  fleet  was  on  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  at  the 
gate  of  the  Bosphorus,  threatening  Russia,  to  make 
her  withdraw  her  soldiers  from  the  gates  of  Constanti- 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         177 

nople,  for  the  conquering  Russian  army  had  reached 
the  suburbs,  and  encamped  at  San  Stefano,  only  eight 
or  ten  miles  away.  But  for  England,  Russia  would 
have  captured  Constantinople,  and  ke2)t  it.  But  Eng- 
land backed  Turkey,  and  the  other  powers  backed 
England,  and  Russia  reluctantly  withdrew  her  troops. 
But  Russia  has  never  forciven  England  for  it;  and  if 
England  wishes  to  help  tlie  Armenians,  no  matter 
how  many  are  massacred,  Russia  will  help  Turkey, 
while  the  others  side  with  neither.  As  to  there  ever 
being  a  European  concert  to  reform  Armenia,  a  pleas- 
ant dream  which  has  deluded  many  thousands,  I  have 
always  laughed  at  it,  and  I  laugh  at  it  still.  The 
powers  will  never  act  together  for  any  such  purpose. 
It  is  not  "  practical  politics  "  to  think  of  it.  The  real 
center  of  action  is  not  Germany  or  Russia,  but  Eng- 
land, for  several  reasons.  One  is  that  London  is  the 
money  capital  of  the  world.  Money  rules;  money 
buys  force.  The  richest  nation  is  the  strongest. 
What  does  Lombard  street  say  ?  is  the  vital  question. 
The  second  is  her  navy,  the  strongest  in  the  world; 
stronger  that  that  of  any  other  two  nations  combined ; 
perhaps  in  actual  fight  a  match  for  all  combined.  The 
third  is  that  her  possessions  are  everywhere;  she  is  a 
local  power  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe;  she  has  to 
pass  by  everybody's  doors  in  managing  her  colonies. 
So  I  will  begin  with  England. 

ENGLAND  AND  THE  ARMENIAN  QUESTION. 

If  England  had  wished  to  solve  this  question,  she 
could  have  done  it  long  ago;  but  she  never  cared  to. 
12 


178  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

When  Mr.  Gladstone  was  in  power,  he  tried  to  do 
it,  but  his  Cabinet  overbore  him.  He  did,  however, 
show  by  isolated  cases  what  power  England  had  if  she 
chose  to  exercise  it.  After  I  was  banished  by  the 
Turkish  government,  two  native  Christian  ministers 
supplied  my  pulpit.  They  were  sentenced  to  death 
on  a  false  charge,  but  Gladstone  threatened  the  Sul- 
tan, and  the  latter  commuted  the  sentence  to  ban- 
ishment. These  ministers  were  Professors  Thoum- 
aian  and  Kayayian,  who  are  now  in  England  with 
their  families.  What  could  be  done  on  a  small  scale 
could  be  done  on  a  large  one.  I  will  give  here  some 
of  the  speeches  of  Gladstone  on  the  Armenian  ques- 
tion; then  compare  Lord  Salisbury  with  him  and  his 
policy. 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 

He  assails  Turkey's  Intolerable  Misgovemment  and  BmpTiasizes  the 
Value  of  Impartial  American  Testimony. 

[By  Cable  to  The  New  York  Herald.] 

London,  Aug.  6,  1895. — A  pro-American  meet- 
ing, presided  over  by  the  Duke  of  Westminster,  was 
held  at  Chester  this  afternoon.  Mr.  Gladstone  was 
among  those  present,  and  upon  entering  the  hall  was 
received  with  great  enthusiasm. 

In  addressing  the  meeting,  Mr.  Gladstone  said  he 
had  attended  rather  to  meet  the  expectation  that  he 
would  be  present  than  because  he  had  any  important 
contribution  to  make  to  the  discussion  of  the  subject 
under  consideration.  The  question  before  the  meet- 
ing, he  said,  was  not  a  party  question,  neither  was  it 
strictly  a  religious  question,  although  the  sufferers,  on 
whose  behalf  the  meeting  was  called,  were  Christians. 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         179 

The  evil  arose  from  the  fact  that  the  sufferers  were 
under  an  intolerably  bad  government  —  one  of  the 
worst,  in  fact,  that  ever  existed.  A  resolution  would 
be  proposed  presenting,  with  justice  and  firmness,  the 
true  view  of  the  matter.  Mr.  Gladstone  added  that 
as  America  had  no  political  interest  in  the  Levant  her 
witnesses  were  doubly  entitled  to  credit. 

Important  Treaty  Promsiom. 

The  treaty  of  1856,  Mr.  Gladstone  continued, 
gave  the  powers  the  right  to  march  into  Armenia  and 
take  the  government  of  the  country  out  of  the  hands 
of  Turkey,  and  under  the  treaty  of  1878  the  Sultan 
was  bound  to  carry  out  reforms.  The  ex-Premier 
made  three  proposals: — First,  that  the  demands  of 
the  powers  should  be  moderate ;  second,  that  no  prom- 
ises of  the  Turkish  authorities  should  be  accepted ;  and 
third,  that  the  powers  should  not  fear  the  word  "  coer- 
cion." 

"  We  have  reached  a  critical  position,"  said  Mr. 
Gladstone,  in  conclusion,  "  and  the  honor  of  the  pow- 
ers is  pledged  to  the  institution  of  reforms  in  Ar- 
menia." 

A  resolution  was  then  proposed  expressing  the 
conviction  that  the  government  would  have  the  sup- 
port of  the  entire  nation  in  any  measures  it  might 
adopt  to  secure  in  Armenia  reforms  guaranteeing  to 
the  inhabitants  safety  of  life,  honor,  religion,  and 
property,  and  that  no  reforms  can  be  effected  which 
are  not  placed  under  the  continuous  control  of  the 
great  powers  of  Europe.  The  resolution  was  sec- 
onded by  the  Kev.  Canon  Malcolm  MacColl,  and  was 
adopted. 


180  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Says  Baseness  and  Villany  Have  Beached  a  Climax  in  Turkey's 
Treatment  of  Aiifnenia. 

[From  The  New  York  Herald.] 

London,  Dec.  27,  1895. — Murad  Bey,  formerly 
Ottoman  Commissioner  of  the  Turkish  debt,  who  re- 
cently fled  from  Constantinople  to  Paris,  sent  to  Mr. 
Gladstone  a  few  days  ago  a  pamphlet  which  he  had 
published  in  Paris,  entitled  "  The  Yildiz  Palace  and 
the  Sublime  Porte,"  with  a  view  to  enlightening  public 
opinion  on  Turkish  affairs.  In  the  course  of  his  reply 
acknowledging  the  receipt  of  the  pamphlet,  Mr. 
Gladstone  disavowed  any  feeling  of  enmity  toward  the 
Turks  and  Mussulmans  generally.  He  said: — "I 
have  felt  it  my  duty  to  make  it  known  that  the  Mo- 
hammedans, including  the  Turks,  suffer  from  the  bad 
government  of  the  Sultan.  I  have  heartily  wished 
success  to  every  effort  made  toward  ending  the  great 
evil.  Still,  Turks  and  other  Mohammedans  are  not, 
so  far  as  I  know,  plundered,  raped,  murdered,  starved, 
and  burned;  but  this  is  the  treatment  that  the  Sultan 
knowingly  deals  out  to  his  Armenian  subjects  daily. 
There  are  degrees  of  suffering,  degrees  of  baseness 
and  villany  among  men,  and  both  seem  to  have 
reached  their  climax  in  the  case  of  Armenia." 

His  Masterly  Speech  in  Chester  Be-enforced  with  a  letter  to  a 

Turk. 

[From  The  New  York  Sun.] 

London,  Aug.  10. — Once  more  have  the  wonder- 
ful power  and  the  true  greatness  of  England's  Grand 
Old  Man  been  demonstrated  in  the  remarkable  re- 
vival of  popular  interest  in  the  fate  of  Armenia.  The 
whole  nation  is  marveling  over  his  great  speech  at 
Chester,  and  there  are  no  words,  even  among  those 
who  have  always  been  his  political  opponents,  save 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  AR:^rENIA.        181 

those  of  sympathy  and  admiration.  Nobody  is  any 
longer  foolish  enough  to  deny  the  main  features  of 
the  fearful  atrocities  in  Armenia,  and  there  is  no  possi- 
ble doubt  of  the  accuracy  of  the  latest  reports  that 
thousands  near  the  scene  of  the  massacres  are  per- 
ishing of  starvation. 

Tlie  only  protest  against  Mr.  Gladstone's  speech 
has  been  a  long  letter  from  Khalef  Khalid,  a  con- 
spicuous Turk,  who  asks  the  Grand  Old  Man  why 
he  hates  and  denounces  the  Turks  so  indiscriminately, 
when  as  many  and  as  great  outrages  against  the  Mo- 
hammedans  have  been  perpetrated  by  Christians  as 
were  ever  committed  by  the  subjects  of  Islam. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  reply  was  made  public  to-day.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  pointed  epistles  the  old  man  ever 
wrote.  He  says: —  "  I  entirely  disclaim  the  hatred 
and  hostility  to  the  Turks,  or  any  race  of  men,  which 
you  ascribe  to  me.  I  do  not  doubt  that  you  write  in 
entire  good  faith,  but  your  statements  of  facts  are 
unauthenticated.  I  proceed  only  upon  authenticated 
statements.  I  make  no  charge  against  the  Turks  at 
large,  but  against  a  Turkish  government.  I  make 
the  charges  which  they  have  been  proved  guilty  of 
by  public  authority.  In  my  opinion,  I  have  been  a 
far  better  friend  to  the  Ottoman  Empire  than  have 
the  Sultan  and  his  advisers.  I  have  always  recom- 
mended the  granting  of  reasonable  powers  of  local  self- 
government,  which  would  have  saved  Turkey  from  ter- 
rible losses.  This  good  advice  has  been  spurned,  and 
in  consequence  Turkey  has  lost  18,000,000  of  people, 
and  may  lose  more.     Pray  weigh  these  words." — 

The  birthday  of  the  Ex-Premier  was  made  the  oc- 
casion for  an  anti-Turkish  demonstration. 


182  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Outrages  and  Abominations  of  1876  in  Bulgaria  Repeated  in 

Armenia  in  1894. 

[From  The  New  York  Herald.] 

London,  Dec.  29,  1894. — Mr.  Gladstone  cele- 
brated his  eighty-fifth  birthday  to-day,  and  was  the 
recipient  of  hundreds  of  letters  and  telegrams  of  con- 
gratulation and  parcels  containing  birthday  gifts.  Mr. 
Gladstone  was  in  remarkably  good  health  and  spirits, 
and,  despite  the  stormy  weather,  drove  through 
the  village  of  Hawarden  to  the  church,  where  he  met 
a  deputation  of  Armenian  Christians  from  Paris  and 
London.  The  deputation  presented  a  silver  chalice  to 
•the  church.  The  chalice  was  presented  to  the  Rev. 
Stephen  Gladstone,  son  of  the  ex-Premier,  and  rector 
of  the  Hawarden  church,  in  recognition  of  the  interest 
his  father  has  taken  in  the  Armenian  outrages.  Mr. 
Gladstone,  in  his  reply  to  the  deputation's  address,  said 
that  it  was  not  their  duty  to  assume  that  all  the  allega- 
tions of  outrages  were  true,  but  rather  to  .await  the  re- 
sult of  the  inquiry  which  had  been  instituted.  How- 
ever, he  said,  the  published  accounts  pointed  strongly 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  outrages,  sins,  and  abomina- 
tions committed  in  1876  in  Bulgaria  had  been  repeated 
in  1894  in  Armenia.  Continuing,  Mr.  Gladstone  said: 
"  Don't  let  me  be  told  that  one  nation  has  no  authority 
over  another.  Every  nation,  aye,  every  human  being, 
has  authority  in  behalf  of  humanity  and  justice."  He 
had  been  silent,  he  said,  because  he  had  full  confidence 
that  the  government  knew  its  duty.  If  the  allegations 
made  should  prove  to  be  true,  it  was  time  that  the 
execration  of  humanity  should  force  itself  upon  the 
ears  of  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  and  make  him  sensible  of 
the  madness  of  such  a  course  as  was  being  pursued. 
Mr.  Gladstone,  in  conclusion,  said: — "The  history  of 
Turkey  is  a  sad  and  painful  one.  The  Turkish  race 
has  not  been  without  remarkable,  even  fine  qualities, 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         183 

but  from  too  many  points  of  view  it  has  been  a  scourge 
which  has  been  made  use  of  by  a  wise  Providence  for 
the  sins  of  the  world.  If  these  tales  of  murder,  viola- 
tion, and  outrage  be  true,  well,  then,  they  cannot  be 
overlooked,  nor  can  they  be  made  light  of.  I  have 
lived  to  see  the  Empire  of  Turkey  in  Europe  reduced 
to  less  than  one-half  of  what  it  was  when  I  was  born. 
And  why  ?  Simply  because  of  its  misdeeds,  and  the 
great  record  written  by  the  hand  of  Almighty  God 
against  its  injustice,  lust,  and  most  abominable  cruelty. 
I  hope  and  feel  sure  that  the  government  of  Great 
Britain  will  do  everything  that  can  be  done  to  pierce  to 
the  bottom  of  this  mystery,  and  make  the  facts  known 
to  the  world. 

"  If  happily  (I  speak  hoping  against  hope)  the  re- 
ports be  disproved  or  mitigated,  let  us  thank  God.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  they  be  established,  it  will  more 
than  ever  stand  before  the  world  that  there  is  a  lesson, 
however  severe  it  may  be,  that  can  teach  certain  people 
the  duty  of  prudence,  and  the  necessity  of  observing 
the  laws  of  decency,  humanity,  and  justice.  If  the 
allegations  are  true,  it  is  time  that  there  should  be  one 
general  shout  of  execration  against  these  deeds  of  wick- 
edness from  outraged  humanity.  If  the  facts  are  well 
established,  it  should  be  written  in  letters  of  iron  upon 
the  records  of  the  world  that  a  government  which 
could  be  guilty  of  countenancing  and  covering  up 
such  atrocities  is  a  disgrace  to  Mohammed  the  prophet, 
a  disgrace  to  civilization  at  large,  and  a  disgrace  to 
mankind.  Now  that  is  strong  language,  but  strong 
language  ought  to  be  used  when  the  facts  are  strong. 
But  strong  language  ought  not  to  be  used  without  the 
strength  of  facts. 

"  I  have  counseled  you  to  be  still  and  keep  your 
judgment  in  suspense;  but  as  the  evidence  grows,  the 
case  darkens,  and  my  hopes  dwindle  and  decline,  and 


184  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

as  long  as  I  have  voice  it  will  be  uttered  in  behalf  of 
humanity  and  truth.  I  wish  you  heartily  every  bless- 
ing, and  also  wish  with  every  heartiness  prosperity  to 
your  nation,  however  dark  the  present  may. seem." 

Lord  Salisbury. 

"Now  we  come  to  the  present  Prime  Minister,  Lord 
Salisbury.  He  is  reputed  a  great  statesman.  That 
should  mean  that  he  has  accomplished  something 
great.  Well,  what  ?  I  know  of  nothing,  have  heard 
of  nothing.  Has  he  saved  any  country  ?  Has  he 
elevated  any  ?  Has  he  done  any  public  action  that 
can  be  set  down  to  his  credit  ?  He  has  hindered  some 
good  ones,  that  is  all.  On  the  Armenian  question  he 
has  done  enormous  harm.  If  he  is  not  a  great  hypo- 
crite, there  is  no  use  comparing  a  man's  words  with  his 
actions.  I  have  always  told  my  friends  that  nothing 
good  could  be  hoped  for  from  him,  for  morally  he  is 
worse  than  the  Sultan.  An  eminent  English  clergy- 
man told  me  that  Lord  Salisbury  is  another  Sultan, 
and  I  believe  him.  Here  are  a  few  of  Lord  Salis- 
bury's deliverances;  see  how  they  agree: — 

[From  The  New  York  World,  August  16, 1895.] 

Lord  Salisbury  to  Sir  Philip  Currie,  the  British 
Ambassador  to  Constantinople: — "The  Porte  must 
accept  the  proposals  of  the  Powers  unconditionally,  or 
England  would  use  sharper  means  than  those  adopted 
by  Lord  Rosebery  to  settle  affairs  in  Armenia." — 
[July  80,  1895. 

Lord  Salisbury,  in  a  speech  in  London  about  the 
time  of  the  above,  said,  "  The  concert  of  Europe 
on  the  Armenian  question  is  complete,  and  England 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         186 

has  the  loyal  support  of  other  powers  to  reform  Ar- 
menia." 

At  another  time  we  note: —  "  There  is  every  rea- 
son to  believe  that  the  Chinese  government  is  sincerely 
desirous  of  punishing  the  perpetrators  of  the  outrages 
and  those  who  connived  at  them.  Should  any  luke- 
warmness  become  discernible,  it  will  become  our  duty 
to  supply  its  defect. 

"  With  respect  to  Armenia,  we  have  accepted  the 
policy  which  our  predecessors  initiated,  and  our  efforts 
will  be  directed  to  obtaining  an  adequate  guarantee 
for  the  carrying  out  of  reform.  We  have  received  the 
most  loyal  support  from  both  France  and  Russia.  The 
permanence  of  the  Sultan's  rule  is  involved  in  the  con- 
duct he  pursues.  If  the  cries  of  misery  continue,  the 
Sultan  must  realize  that  Europe  will  become  weary 
of  appeals,  and. the  fictitious  strength  which  the  pow- 
ers have  given  the  empire  will  fail  it.  The  Sultan  will 
make  a  calamitous  mistake  if  he  refuses  to  accept  the 
advice  of  the  European  powers  relative  to  the  re- 
forms." The  House  of  Lords  adopted  the  address 
in  reply  to  the  Queen's  speech. 

After  the  above  strong  worda,  Lord  Salisbury 
backed  down  and  sneaked  out  of  his  bold  attitude  in 
this  way.  (Jan.  31,  1896.)  See  how  he  asserts,  first 
that  England  cannot  do  anything  for  the  Armenians, 
and  second  that  it  is  not  her  duty  to  do  anything : — 

[From  The  New  York  Tribune.] 

"  The  Prime  Minister  expressed  sympathy  with 
the  Armenians,  but  denied  that  Great  Britain  was 
under  obligation  to  declare  war  against  the  Sultan 
of  Turkey  in  order  to  compel  him  to  govern  justly, 
and  cited  the  treaties  in  proof  of  his  contention.  He 
ascribed  the  atrocities  to  the  passions  of  race  and  creed. 


186  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE.  / 

He  believed  that  the  Sultan's  government  was  wretched 
and  impotent,  but  there  was  no  ground  for  im- 
agining that  the  Sultan  had  instigated  the  massacres. 
It  might  be  asked  why  Europe  did  not  interfere.  He 
could  only  answer  for  England.  She  had  lacked  the 
power  to  do  the  only  thing  necessary  to  end  the  trou- 
bles, namely,  to  militarily  occupy  Turkish  provinces. 
None  of  the  powers  wished  so  to  occupy  them. 

'^  Lord  Salisbury  said  he  concurred  in  the  belief 
that  the  only  authority,  albeit  it  was  an  evil  one,  in 
that  country  was  the  prestige  of  the  Sultan's  name. 
Patience  must  be  exercised,  and  time  must  be  given 
to  His  Majesty  to  enforce  the  reforms  he  had  prom- 
ised; He  remarked  upon  the  gradual  return  of  order 
in  Anatolia  during  the  last  few  weeks,  although  he 
admitted  that  these  signs  should  not  be  trusted  too 
much.  He  concluded  by  declaring  that  if  Great 
Britain  did  not  co-operate  with  the  other  powers,  she 
must  act  against  them,  which  would  lead  to  calamities 
far  more  awful  than  the  Armenian  massacres." 

Ambassador  Currie  instructed  -not  to  exert  Undue  Pressure  on  the 
Sultan. 

[From  The  New  York  World,  1895.] 

London,  Nov.  23,  1895. — It  can  be  authoritatively 
stated  that  Lord  Salisbury's  instructions  to  Sir  Philip 
Currie,  the  British  Ambassador  to  Turkey,  who  left 
England  a  few"  days  ago  on  his  return  to  his  post  of 
duty,  are  to  refrain  from  exerting  undue  pressure  on 
the  Sultan  for  the  execution  of  the  reforms  in  Ar- 
menia, and  to  give  the  JPorte  time  to  recover  from 
the  existing  administrative  anarchy,  and  appoint  au- 
thorities through  whom  the  reforms  must  be  effected. 

Sir  Philip  has  taken  with  him  an  autograph  letter 
from  the  Queen  to  the  Sultan.  This  is  supposed  to 
be  a  reply  to  a  letter  the  Sultan  sent  to  her  with  the 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         187 

communication  he  sent  to  Lord  Salisbury,  which  the 
latter  read  at  the  meeting  of  the  National  Union  of 
Conservatives  at  Brighton,  on  Tuesday  night  last. 

It  is  reported  that  the  Queen  will  invite  the  Sul- 
tan to  visit  England,  when  the  time  shall  be  auspi- 
cious. The  anxiety  at  the  Foreign  Office  in  regard 
to  the  East  has  greatly  lessened  during  the  week. 

England  possessed  the  Island  of  Cyprus,  and  it  be- 
came her  duty  to  look  after  the  reforms  in  Turkey. 
But  now  Salisbury  denies  it,  saying  that  it  is  not  her 
duty,  and  meantime  says  that  time  must  be  given  to 
the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  as  if  all  the  time  had  not  been 
given  him  since  the  Berlin  treaty  of  1878. 

Salisbury  used  another  silly  trick,  persuading  the 
Queen  of  England  to  write  a  letter  to  the  Sultan  and 
appeal  to  his  good  nature;  as  if  the  Sultan  had  a  good 
nature;  but  the  Queen  wrote  the  letter. 

A  strong  criticism  by  the  editor  of  the  New  York 
"  Press  "  on  Lord  Salisbury's  speech. 

February  3,  1896. 
"  We  confess  that  we  are  at  a  loss  to  comprehend 
the  meaning  of  Lord  Salisbury's  Armenian  speech. 
We  do  not  know  what  to  make  of  it  when  he  says  that 
the  Berlin  Treaty  "  bound  the  signatory  powers;  that, 
if  the  Sultan  promulgated  certain  reforms,  they  would 
watch  over  tlie  progress  of  these  reforms.  Nothing 
more."  We  cannot  understand  him  when  he  de- 
clares that  the  Cyprus  Convention  ^  contains  no  trace 
of  an  understanding  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the  Sul- 
tan's subjects.'  When  Russia  made,  in  March,  1878, 
a  treaty  with  Turkey,  called  the  treaty  of  San  Stefano, 
Great  Britain  became  alarmed  lest  Russia  should  se- 


188  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

cure  too  much  influence  in  Constantinople.  Kussia 
then  held  some  Armenian  provinces  bordering  on  her 
territory,  and  it  seemed  clear  that  it  was  her  purpose  to 
seize  others.  England  protested  to  the  Sultan  against 
the  treaty  of  San  Stefano,  but  the  government  of  the 
Ottoman  Porte  was  helpless  against  the  Czar,  and  the 
Sultan  declared  that  he  must  adhere  to  the  treaty. 
Great  Britain  then  secretly  bound  herself  to  aid  Tur- 
key by  force  of  arms  in  preventing  Russia  from  ap- 
propriating further  Armenian  provinces,  Turkey 
agreeing,  on  her  part,  to  reform  her  local  administra- 
tion in  her  remaining  Armenian  provinces  and  as- 
signing the  island  of  Cyprus  to  be  occupied  and  ad- 
ministered by  Great  Britain. 

"  Great  Britain,  meanwhile,  had  incited  the  other 
powers  of  Europe  to  take  action  against  the  treaty  of 
San  Stefano.  Austria  was  induced  to  suggest  a  Euro- 
pean Congress.  Russia  at  first  refused  to  go  into  this 
Congress;  but,  seeing  that  all  the  great  powers  were 
uniting  against  her,  she  consented  to  attend.  The  re- 
sult of  this  Congress  was  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  signed 
by  the  six  powers, —  England,  Russia,  Germany, 
France,  Austria,  and  Italy.  By  this  treaty  Turkey 
was  stripped  of  Bulgaria,  Servia,  and  Roumania,  and 
Russia  was  deprived  of  all  she  had  won  during 
the  Turko-Russian  w^ar,  except  the  Armenian  pro- 
vinces which  she  still  controls.  By  this  treaty,  also, 
the  signatory  powers  became  guardians  and  trustees  of 
the  Ottoman  Porte,  pledging  themselves  that  religious 
freedom  should  be  secured  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  and 
that  Armenian  Christians  should  be  protected  against 
the  Circassians  and  Kurds. 

"  We  are  puzzled,  therefore,  to  understand  Lord 
Salisbury  when  he  says  that  all  these  promises  did  not 
mean  anything.  Certainly  he  ought  to  know,  for,  as 
the  agent  of  the  Disraeli  government,  it  was  Lord 


THE  GREAT  P0WJ)U8  AND  ARMENIA.         189 

Salisbury  who  drafted  the  agreements  and  drew  up 
the  promises.  For  eighteen  years  Christian  civiliza- 
tion has  supposed  that  they  did  mean  something.  But 
Lord  Salisbury  says  not.  He  says  that  all  the  powers 
agreed  to  do  was  to  ^  watch  over  the  execution  of  those 
reforms '  if  they  were  promulgated. 

"  What  does  that  mean,  anyway  ?  Does  it  mean, 
as  the  Christian  world  has  all  along  supposed,  that  the 
six  powers  would  engage  themselves  to  see  that  these 
reforms  were  carried  out  by  Turkey,  or  does  it  mean 
that  if  the  reforms  were  carried  out  they  would  simply 
look  on;  and  if  the  reforms  were  not  carried  out,  if  ten 
thousand  Armenian  homes  were  destroyed,  and  four 
times  ten  thousand  Armenian  citizens  were  butchered, 
they  would  still  simply  look  on  ? 

"  I^or  do  we  understand  Lord  Salisbury  w^hen  he 
pleads  that  it  requires  time  for  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment to  carry  out  the  reforms  ^  which  the  Sultan  re- 
cently has  accepted.'  Why  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment ?  There  is  no  Turkish  government.  There  is 
a  Mohammedan  administration,  but  the  government 
of  the  Ottoman  Porte  expired  mth  the  Treaty  of  Ber- 
lin. The  Turkish  government  is  vested  de  facto  in 
the  six  signatory  powers  of  the  Berlin  Congress.  Even 
the  local  government  of  Constantinople  itself  lies  in 
the  hands  of  these  powers.  The  capital  is  divided  into 
six  sections,  each  controlled  by  a  treaty  power.  Each 
has  its  own  courts,  its  own  military,  even  its  own  police. 
When  Englishmen  wish  a  wrong  to  be  righted  in  the 
Turkish  Empire,  or  a  reform  to  be  executed,  they  do 
not  request  the  '  Turkish  government '  to  listen  to 
their  appeal.  The  British  Minister  summons  the 
Grand  Yezir  and  orders  him  to  do  what  is  wished. 
And  he  does  it  forthwith,  so  far  as  he  is  permitted  by 
the  orders  of  the  representatives  of  the  other  treaty 
powers.     It  is  in  London,  in  Berlin,  in  St.  Petersburg, 


190  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

in  Paris,  in  Vienna,  and  in  Eome  that  the  Turkish 
government  rests. 

"  It  is  for  these  reasons  that  Ave  are  unable  to  un- 
derstand what  Lord  Salisbury  means  when  he  says 
that  the  Berlin  Treaty  and  the  Cyprus  Convention 
impose  no  responsibility  for  Armenian  reforms  upon 
any  one  save  the  Sultan.  The  Cyprus  Convention 
specifies: — 

"  Treaty  of  Defensive  Alliance  between  the  British 
Government  and  the  Sublime  Porte,  signed  on  June 
4,  1878:— 

Article  I.  If  Batoum,  Ardahau,  Kars,  or  any  of  them 
shall  be  retained  by  Russia,  and  if  any  attempt  shall  be 
made  at  any  future  time  by  Russia  to  take  possession  of 
any  further  territories  of  his  imperial  Majesty,  the  Sultan, 
in  Asia,  as  fixed  by  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace,  England 
engages  to  join  His  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Sultan,  in  defend- 
ing them  by  force  of  arms.  In  return.  His  Imperial  Majesty, 
the  Sultan,  promises  to  England  to  introduce  necessary 
reforms,  to  be  agreed  upon  later  between  the  two  powers, 
into  the  government,  and  for  the  protection  of  Christian  and 
other  subjects  of  the  Porte  in  these  territories;  and  in  order 
to  enable  England  to  make  necessai*y  provision  for  executing 
her  engagement.  His  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Sultan,  further 
consents  to  assign  the  Island  of  Cyprus,  to  be  occupied  and 
administered  by  England. 

"  Why,  then,  does  not  Lord  Salisbury  carry  out 
England's  pledges,  for  which  he  is  directly  responsi- 
ble, since  he  made  them  in  her  name  ? 

^•'  England  must  be  held  to  an  accounting  for  the 
disorders  in  Armenia.  There  are  no  such  disorders 
in  the  provinces  administered  by  the  Czar,  provinces 
adjoining  those  where  for  the  last  six  years  pillage, 
destruction,  and  murder  have  swept  away  every  sign 
of  government.  In  the  provinces  controlled  by  the 
Czar  the  Armenians  have  been  so  well  treated,  enjoy- 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         191 

ing  unquestioned  religious  freedom  and  rights,  that 
there  have  been  not  the  slightest  disorders.  But  in 
the  provinces  where  England  pledged  reform,  the  Ar- 
menian is  butchered  daily. 

"  Does  Lord  Salisbury  mean  that  so  long  as  Great 
Britain  occupies  Cyprus,  pending  the  execution  of  re- 
forms, it  is  better  for  England  that  the  reforms  should 
not  be  executed  and  that  England  should  *  watch 
over  them ;  nothing  more  '  ?  " 

Note  carefully  what  Salisbury  says  first;  then  what 
he  says  afterward.  First  he  says  there  is  complete 
concert  among  the  powers,  then  he  says  there  is  not; 
fii-st  he  threatens  the  Sultan,  then  he  is'  friendly. 
First  he  seems  to  be  a  brave  and  noble  statesman,  then 
a  cowardly  politician. 

Sir  Philip  Currie,  the  British  Ambassador  at  Con- 
stantinople, is  a  brave  and  noble  gentleman.  He  was 
sent  there  by  the  Liberal  government,  before  Salis- 
bury's accession.  He  has  done  a  great  deal  for  the 
Armenian  cause.  But  after  Lord  Salisbury  became 
Prime  Minister,  he  called  him  to  London  and  in- 
structed him  to  have  cordial  relations  with  the  Sultan, 
and  now  he  can  do  nothing. 

Finally  there  appear  to  be  two  Englands,  con- 
servative England  and  liberal  England,  slave  Eng- 
land and  free  England,  selfish  England  and  noble 
and  sympathetic  England,  false  England  and  true 
England.  The  head  of  conservative,  selfish,  false,  op- 
pressive England  is  Lord  Salisbury.  The  head  of 
liberal,  free,  noble,  and  true  England  is  Mr.  Glad- 
stone.    Therefore  nothing  for  Armenia  can  be  ex- 


192  AR^lENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

pected  from  the  Conservatives,  while  much  may  be 
hoped  from  the  Liberals.  Gladstone  is  an  old  man, 
but  God  will  raise  a  Joshua  to  succeed  Moses;  Glad- 
stone will  see  the  Armenian  nation  free,  and  then  he 
will  die. 

GERMANY  AND  THE  ARMENIAN  QUESTION. 

Listen  to  what  the  haughty  young  ruler  of  Ger- 
many says: —  '^  It  is  better  that  the  Armenians  be 
killed  than  the  peace  of  Europe  be  disturbed."  The 
explanation  is  easy  enough.  When  he  visited  Con- 
stantinople half  a  dozen  years  ago,  the  Sultan  pre- 
sented him  with  Arabian  horses,  jewelry  of  massive 
gold,  and  many  other  valuable  articles,  worth  in  all 
several  hundred  thousand  dollars;  and  last  summer 
sent  him  a  beautiful  and  valuable  sword  made  in  Con- 
stantinople by  Armenians,  which  was  carried  to  him 
by  Shakir  Pasha,  the  butcher  who  was  afterwards 
appointed  by  the  Sultan  to  reform  Armenia, —  the 
commander  of  the  "  Hamidieh  Cavalry,"  whose  work 
I  tell  of  later  on.  This  embassy  was  to  secure  the  al- 
liance of  Germany  against  molestation  by  Russia. 

The  German  Emperor  has  three  motives  in  his 
present  action.  One  is  to  show  gratitude  for  the  Sul- 
tan's generosity  —  as  though  it  were  not  the  easiest 
thing  in  the  world  to  be  munificent  when  it  all  comes 
out  of  other  people.  The  second  is  to  punish  Lord 
Salisbury  for  not  getting  England  to  join  the  Triple 
Alliance,  when  the  Emperor  asked  him  in  person 
on  his  journey  to  England.  When  Salisbury  threat- 
ened the  Sultan  in  the  interest  of  Armenia,  the  Ger- 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         193 

man  Emperor  said,  "  The  English  government  has 
no  right  to  interfere  with  the  Turkish  Empire.  Every 
sovereign  must  have  the  right  to  govern  as  he  thinks 
necessary,  or  he  is  no  sovereign."  He  afterwards 
sent  his  Chancellor,  Prince  Hohenlohe,  to  the  Czar 
to  arrange  united  resistance  to  England,  and  after- 
wards sent  Count  Von  Moltke  on  the  same  errand. 
And  the  Czar  instructed  his  Ambassador  at  Con- 
stantinople, M.  I^elido£F,  to  inform  the  Sultan  that 
he  would  not  support  the  English  government  in 
coercing  Turkey.  The  Sultan  therefore  refused  Sal- 
isbury's demands,  and  he  dared  not  go  on  alone.  The 
Emperor's  third  motive  was  to  gain  the  friendship  of 
the  Czar  against  France,  which  had  lately  been  taking 
up  the  Russian  alliance  with  great  fervor.  Another 
reason  is  that  he  hates  the  Armenians  for  having 
bought  the  German  factories  and  property  in  Amas- 
sia.  He  is  very  anxious  to  plant  German  colonies  in 
Turkey,  of  all  places  in  the  world,  for  profit.  There 
are  about  fifty  families  in  Amassia,  near  Marsovan, 
and  they  had  started  various  kinds  of  factories  there ; 
but  the  shrewd  and  wealthy  Armenians  bought  them 
out.  The  Emperor  is  angry  because  his  colony  was 
not  successful. 

For  all  these  reasons  the  German  Emperor  refused 
to  send  gunboats  to  the  Bosphorus  when  the  other 
powers  did;  he  said  he  saw  no  need  of  it.  He  was 
right  so  far  as  Germans  were  concerned;  the  Sultan 
was  not  going  to  allow  his  ally's  subjects  to  be  slaugh- 
tered and  the  ally  turned  into  an  enemy.  And  if  he 
13 


194  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

could  stop  the  massacre  of  one  sort  of  people,  he  could 
of  another;  nothing  shows  the  Sultan's  deliberate 
purpose  in  the  massacres  better  than  the  fact  that 
when  he  chose  not  to  let  any  particular  sort  of  people 
be  harmed,  that  sort  were  not  harmed.  But  as  to 
Germany,  what  hope  for  Armenia  is  there  from  it  ? 
The  Emperor  has  his  own  interests,  and  the  Armen- 
ians might  be  tortured  or  outraged  to  death,  and 
he  would  not  stir  a  finger. 

RUSSIA  AND  THE  ARMENIANS. 

The  present  Czar,  Nicholas  II,  is  a  corrupt  weak- 
ling, who  is  on  the  throne  by  the  law  of  heredity, 
against  the  will  of  his  father.  Morally  he  is  as  bad 
as  the  Sultan;  not  so  cruel  yet,  though  he  may  de- 
velop that  in  time,  but  fully  as  sensual  and  de- 
void of  principle.  I  have  had  it  from  good  Russian 
authority  that  his  life  before  his  marriage  was  so  bad 
that  it  has  rendered  him  entirely  impotent.  "  Birds 
of  a  feather  flock  together."  No  wonder  he  helps 
the  Sultan.  His  political  aims  and  character  are 
wholly  selfish.  He,  too,  like  the  German  Emperor, 
is  continually  exchanging  presents  with  the  Sultan. 
Here  is  a  press  notice  of  Feb.  26,  1896: — "  M. 
Nelidoff,  the  Russian  Ambassador,  has  presented 
to  the  Sultan  a  pair  of  jasper  vases  from  the 
Czar,  together  with  an  autograph  letter  from  His  Ma- 
jesty thanking  the  Sultan  for  the  gifts  sent  to  him." 
Not  only  so,  but  they  have  concluded  an  alliance. 
Read  the  following  dispatch  of  Jan.   23,   1896: — 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         195 

"  London,  Jan.  23,  1896.— A  dispatch  to  the  Pall 
Mall  Gazette  from  Constantinople,  dated  yesterday, 
savs  that  an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance  has  been 
concluded  between  Russia  and  Turkey.  The  Pall  Mall 
Gazette  correspondent  adds  that  the  treaty  was  signed 
at  Constantinople,  and  that  the  ratifications  were  ex- 
changed at  St.  Petersburg  between  Arifi  Pasha  and 
the  Czar. 

"  The  basis  of  the  treaty  is  declared  to  be  on  the 
lines  of  the  Unkiarskelessi  agreement  of  1833,  by 
which  Turkey  agreed,  in  the  event  of  Russia  going 
to  war,  to  close  the  Dardanelles  to  war-ships  of  all 
nations.  The  Pall  Mall  Gazette's  correspondent  then 
says  the  treaty  will  soon  be  abandoned,  owing  to  the 
refusal  of  the  powers  to  recognize  it.  He  also  says 
that  the  French  Ambassador,  M.  Cambon,  conferred 
with  the  Sultan  yesterday,  and  that  it  is  probable 
France  will  be  included  in  the  new  alliance. 

"The  Pall  Mall  Gazette  says:  MVe  regard  the 
news  as  true,  and  the  result  of  the  treaty  is  that  the 
Dardanelles  is  now  the  Southern  outpost  of  Russia, 
and  Turkey  is  Russia's  vassal.  AVe  presume  the 
British  government  wdll  protest  against  the  treaty  for 
all  it  is  worth. 

"  ^  The  information  is  plainly  of  the  very  gravest 
importance.  The  first  intimation  reached  us  four 
days  ago;  but  we  withheld  it  until  the  arrival  of  strong 
confirmation,  which  we  received  this  morning.  This 
brings  Russia  into  the  Mediterranean  with  a  ven- 
geance, and  may  necessitate  the  strengthening  of  our 
fleet  in  those  waters.  Politically,  the  effect  will  be 
far  greater.  The  treaty  means  that  Turkey  has  real- 
ized her  own  impotence  against  disorders  both  from 
within  and  without,  and  has  decided  to  throw  herself 
for  safety  into  the  arms  of  Russia.  She  is  now  Rus- 
sia's vassal,  and  Russia  is  entitled  to  dispatch  troops 


196  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

to  any  part  of  the  Sultan's  dominions  whenever  there 
is  the  least  breach  of  order  —  and  when  is  there  not  ? 
"  ^  We  presume  the  arrangement  will  give  the  keen- 
est satisfaction  to  the  Anglo-American  section  of  our 
people.  With  them  lies  the  chief  blame  for  the 
complete  alienation  of  Turkey,  though  it  must  be 
owned  that  it  has  been  sedulously  fostered  by  a  long 
term  of  weak  policy  at  Constantinople.'  '' 

For  the  present  the  Czar  will  do  no  more  mischief, 
because  he  is  to  have  his  coronation  in  May,  and  pre- 
fers to  put  on  the  smoothest  outside  to  every  nation; 
but  after  that  is  over  he  will  show  his  hand.  His 
father  and  his  grandfather  favored  the  Armenians  in 
Russia,  and  they  prospered  wonderfully,  but  this  one 
proposes  to  persecute  them  to  please  the  Sultan.  The 
two  will  join  in  a  common  policy  toward  the  unhappy 
race,  till  not  less  than  a  million  are  slain.  The  Czar's 
motive  is  not  love  of  the  Sultan,  whom  he  hates  in 
spite  of  their  community  of  character;  it  is  simply 
that  he  wishes  to  get  Constantinople  peaceably  if  he 
can.  The  Sultan  knows  this  quite  well,  but  he  is  too 
weak  in  military  power,  and  too  poor,  and  owes  too 
large  an  indemnity  to  the  Czar  to  be  able  to  help  him- 
self. He  is  compelled  to  throw  himself  on  the  Czar 
for  protection. 

Will  the  Czar  succeed  in  getting  Constantinople  ? 
^o;  the  attempt  will  ruin  and  break  up  the  Russian 
Empire.  All  the  European  powers  would  resist  it; 
some  of  them  may  seem  friendly  to  the  Czar  now,  but 
when  he  comes  to  seize  Constantinople  every  one  of 
them  will  be  against  him.     He  Avill  try  it,  hone  the 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         197 

less.  The  famous  "  will "  of  Peter  the  Great,  though 
a  patent  and  notorious  forgery  of  Napoleon's, —  never 
seen  till  1812,  just  before  the  Russian  campaign,  and 
circulated  then  to  influence  Europe  against  Russia, — 
was  the  most  magnificent  piece  of  forgery  ever  com- 
mitted, for  it  has  actually  become  a  guiding  policy  to 
the  country  it  was  aimed  against,  just  as  if  it  had 
been  real.  Nothing  in  history  equals  this  for  impu- 
dence and  success  combined ;  it  is  a  true  Xapoleonism. 
This  bogus  ''  will  "  has  become  the  "  Monroe  doc- 
trine "  of  Russia;  I  am  not  entitled  to  say  whether 
the  latter  is  as  mischievous  as  the  former.  That  most 
Russian  of  all  Russian  journals,  the  "  Ruskija  Yja- 
domosti,"  has  lately  been  having  one  of  its  periodical 
spasms  of  hysterical  hatred  toward  all  policy  not 
"^  good  Russian,"  and  boldly  proclaims  that  Russia 
must  follow  the  precepts  laid  down  in  this  will  ! 
Since,  therefore,  it  is  just  as  important  as  if  it  were 
not  the  greatest  of  all  "  fakes,"  I  give  it  here  that  the 
reader  may  know  what  Russian  policy  is  to  be : — 

Will  of  Peter  the  Great. 
In  the  name  of  the  most  holy  and  indivisible  Trinity, 
we,  Peter  the  Great,  unto  all  our  descendants  and  succes- 
sors to  the  throne  and  f?overnment  of  the  Russian  nation:  the 
All-Powerful.  from  whom  we  hold  our  life  and  our  throne, 
after  having:  i-evealed  unto  us  his  wishes  and  intentions, 
and  after  bein^  our  support,  permits  us  to  look  upon  Russia 
as  called  upon  to  establish  her  rule  over  all  Europe.  This 
idea  is  based  upon  the  fact  that  all  nations  of  this  portion 
of  the  globe  are  fast  approaching:  a  state  of  utter  decrepi- 
tude. From  this  it  results  that  they  can  be  easily  conquered 
by  a  new  race  of  people  when  it  has  attained  full  power 
and  strength.    We  look  upon  our  invasion  of  the  West  and 


198  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

East  as  a  decree  of  divine  providence,  which  has  already 
once  regenerated  the  Roman  Empire  by  an  invasion  of 
"barbarians." 

The  emigration  of  men  from  tlie  North  is  lilie  the  inunda- 
tion of  tlie  Nile,  which,  at  certain  seasons,  enriches  with  its 
waters  the  arid  plains  of  Egypt.  We  found  Russia  a  small 
rivulet;  we  leave  it  an  immense  river.  Our  successor  will 
make  it  an  ocean,  destined  to  fertilize  the  whole  of  Europe  if 
they  know  how  to  guide  its  waves.  We  leave  them,  then, 
the  following  iusti  lutions,  which  we  earnestly  recommend 
to  their  constant  meditation. 

I.  To  keep  the  Prussian  nation  in  constant  warfare,  in 
order  always  to  have  good  soldiers.  Peace  must  only  be 
permitted  to  recuperate  tinance,  to  recruit  the  army,  to 
choose  the  moment  favorable  for  attack.  Thus  peace  will 
advance  your  projects  of  war,  and  war  those  of  peace,  for 
obtaining  the  enlargement  and  prosperity  of  Russia. 

II.  Draw  unto  you  by  all  possible  means,  from  the 
civilized  nations  of  Europe,  captains  during  war  and  learned 
men  during  peace,  so  that  Russia  may  benefit  by  the  ad- 
vantages of  other  nations. 

III.  Take  care  to  mix  in  the  affairs  of  all  Europe,  and 
in  particular  of  Germany,  which,  being  the  nearest  nation 
to  you,  deserves  your  chief  attention. 

IV.  Divide  Poland  by  raising  up  continual  disorders 
and  jealousies  within  its  bosom.  Gain  over  its  rulers  with 
gold  influence  and  corrupt  the  Diet,  in  order  to  have  a 
voice  in  the  election  of  the  kings.  Make  partisans  and  pro- 
tect them;  if  neighboring  powers  raise  objections  and  op- 
position, surmount  the  obstacles  by  stirring  up  discord 
within  their  countries. 

V.  Take  all  you  can  from  Sweden,  and  to  this  effect 
isolate  her  from  Denmark,  and  vice  versa.  Be  careful  to 
rouse  their  mutual  jealousy. 

VI.  Marry  Russian  princes  to  German  Princesses; 
multiply  these  alliances,  unite  these  interests,  and  by  the  in- 
crease of  our  influence  attach  Germany  to  our  cause. 

VII.  Seek  the  alliance  with  England  on  account  of  our 
commerce,  as  being  the  country  most  useful  for  the  develop- 
ment of  our  navy,  merchants,  etc.,  and  for  the  exchange  ot 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         199 

our  produce  against  hor  gold.  Keep  up  continual  communi- 
cation with  her  merchants  and  sailors,  so  that  ours  may  ac- 
quire experience  in  commerce  and  navigation. 

VIII.  Constantly  extend  yourselves  along  the  shores  of 
the  Baltic  and  the  borders  of  the  Euxine. 

IX.  Do  all  in  your  power  to  approach  closely  Constan- 
tinople and  India.  Remember  that  he  who  rules  over  these 
countries  is  the  real  sovereign  of  the  world.  Keep  up  con- 
tinued wars  with  Turkey  and  with  Persia.  Establish  dock- 
yards in  the  Black  Sea.  Gradually  obtain  the  command  of 
this  sea  as  well  as  of  the  Baltic.  This  is  necessary  for  the 
entire  success  of  our  projects.  Hasten  the  fall  of  Persia. 
Open  for  yourself  a  route  toward  the  Persian  Gulf. 
Re-establish  as  much  as  possible,  by  means  of  Syria,  the 
ancient  commerce  of  the  Levant,  and  thus  advance  toward 
India.    Once  there  you  will  not  require  English  gold. 

X.  Carefully  seek  the  alliance  of  Austria.  Make  her 
believe  that  you  will  second  her  in  her  projects  for  dominion 
over  Germany,  but  secretly  stir  up  other  princes  against 
her,  and  manage  so  that  each  be  disposed  to  claim  the 
assistance  of  Russia;  and  exercise  over  each  a  sort  of  pro- 
tection, which  will  lead  the  way  to  a  future  dominion  over 
them. 

XI.  Make  Austria  drive  the  Turks  out  of  Europe,  and 
neutmlize  her  jealousy  by  offering  to  her  a  portion  of  your 
conquests,  which  you  will  further  on  take  back. 

XII.  Above  all,  recall  around  you  the  schismatic  Greeks 
who  are  spread  over  Hungary  and  Poland.  Become  their 
center,  and  support  a  universal  dominion  over  them  by  a 
kind  of  sacerdotal  autocracy;  by  this  you  will  have  many 
friends  among  your  enemies. 

XIII.  Sweden  dismembered,  Persia  conquered,  Poland 
subjugated,  Turkey  beaten,  our  armies  united,  the  Black 
and  Baltic  seas  guarded  by  our  vessels,  prepare,  separately 
and  secretly,  first  the  court  of  Versailles,  then  that  of 
Vienna,  to  share  the  empire  of  the  universe  with  Russia. 
If  one  accept,  flatter  her  ambition  and  vanity,  and  make 
use  of  one  to  crush  the  other  by  engaging  them  in  war.  The 
result  cannot  be  doubted;  Russia  will  be  possessed  of  the 
whole  of  the  East  and  a  great  portion  of  Europe. 


200  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

XIV.  If,  which  is  not  probable,  both  should  refuse  the 
offer  of  Russia,  raise  a  quarrel  between  them,  and  one  which 
will  ruin  them  both;  then  Russia,  profiting  by  this  decisive 
movement,  will  inundate  Germany  with  the  troops  which  she 
will  have  assembled  beforehand.  At  the  same  time  two 
fleets  full  of  soldiers  will  leave  the  Baltic  and  the  Black 
Sea,  will  advance  along  the  Mediterranean  and  the  ocean, 
keeping  France  in  check  with  the  one  and  Germany  with 
the  other.  And  these  two  countries  conquered,  the  re- 
mainder of  Europe  will  fall  under  our  yoke.  Thus  can 
Europe  be  subjugated. 

But  aside  from  this,  no  help  could  be  expected 
from  Kussia  in  any  event,  because  she  needs  all  her 
strength  to  save  herself  from  destruction  by  her  own 
internal  decay.  She  is  a  great  tree,  hollow  in  the  in- 
side. The  Nihilists  and  the  Constitutional  Reform- 
ers are  both  against  her,  and,  in  my  belief,  she  will  go 
to  pieces  in  the  present  Czar's  lifetime.  The  Sul- 
tan's days  are  numbered,  but  the  Czar's  and  the  Em- 
peror's are  too;  their  own  people  will  rise  and  depose 
them.  It  is  against  Socialists  and  Nihilists  that  they 
are  massing  such  great  armies.  How  can  they  spare 
any  service  for  a  people  being  murdered  off  the  earth  ? 

FRANCE  AND  ARMENIA. 
Of  the  other  powers,  little  need  be  said.  France 
has  lost  all  her  great  men,  and  become  a  tail  to  Rus- 
sia, and  is  ready  to  be  moved  blindly,  as  Russia  may 
direct.  And  as  part  of  the  people  are  infidels,  and 
the  rest  fanatical  Catholics,  there  is  no  religious  mo- 
tive to  prompt  them  to  come  to  the  rescue.  France, 
in  a  word,  can  or  will  do  nothing  directly;  all  it  can 
do  is  to  threaten  the  haughty  Emperor  of  Germany. 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         201 

Italy  is  bankrupt,  and  ovon  the  throne  of  King  Hum- 
bert is  in  danger,  and  that  country  will  follow  in  the 
wake  of  Austria. 

THE  POPE  OF  ROME  AND  THE  ARMENIANS. 

Pope  Leo  XIII  sent  70,000  lire  to  the  Armenian 
sufferers;  probably  to  the  Catholics  alone,  for  there 
are  about  100,000  Catholic  Armenians  in  Turkey. 
But  the  Armenians  can  expect  no  help  from  the  Pope ; 
he  has  no  troops ;  he  has  no  great  fund  of  spare  money, 
and  he  would  be  very  unlikely  to  use  either  if  he  had 
them.  The  motive  of  all  the  Popes  has  been  to  con- 
vert the  Protestant  Armenian  Church  to  become  a 
part  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, —  to  acknowledge 
the  Papacy.  I  say  Protestant,  for  before  Martin  Lu- 
ther was  born,  the  Armenian  Church  protested  against 
the  popes  of  Rome  age  after  age,  and  was  persecuted 
by  them.  The  Armenians  offer  their  thanks  to  the 
Pope  for  his  gifts,  but  they  cannot  accept  his  domin- 
ion. 

[Press  dispatch,  N.  Y.  Herald.  1 

Rome,  Dec.  16,  1895.— The  Pope  has  sent  20,- 
000  lire  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers  from  Turkish 
misrule  in  Anatolia,  in  addition  to  the  50,000  lire 
previously  given  by  him  for  the  same  purpose." 

The  European  edition  published  recently  in  a 
dispatch  from  Rome  the  following  passage  dealing 
with  the  Eastern  question  in  the  allocution  delivered 
by  Leo  XIII  at  the  consistory  on  November  29 : — 

"  The  whole  of  Europe  in  anxious  expectation 
looks  toward  its  eastern  neighbor,  troubled  by  griev- 


202  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

ons  events  and  internal  conflicts.  The  sight  of  towns 
and  villages  defiled  by  scenes  of  blood  and  of  vast  ex- 
tents of  territory  ravaged  by  fire  and  sword  is  a  cruel 
and  lamentable  spectacle. 

''  While  the  powers  are  taking  counsel  together 
in  the  laudable  effort  to  find  means  of  putting  an  end 
to  the  carnage  and  restore  quiet,  we  have  not  omitted 
to  defend  this  noble  and  just  cause  to  the  extent  of 
our  power.  Long  before  these  recent  events,  we  vol- 
untarily intervened  in  favor  of  the  Armenian  nation. 
We  advised  concord,  quiet,  and  equity. 

''  Our  counsels  did  not  appear  to  give  offense.  We 
mean  to  pursue  the  work  we  have  begun,  for  we  desire 
nothing  so  much  as  to  see  the  security  of  persons  and 
all  rights  safeguarded  throughout  the  immense  em- 
pire. 

"  In  the  meantime  we  have  decided  to  send  help 
to  the  most  tried  and  the  most  needy  of  the  Armen- 


AMERICA  AND  ARMENIA. 
!N^ow  we  cross  the  ocean  and  come  to  the  United 
States.  Everywhere  here  the  people  have  shown  the 
greatest  sympathy  for  us;  and  the  Armenians  are 
deeply  moved  and  exceedingly  grateful  for  it.  The 
newspapers  have  almost  uniformly  been  on  our  side 
also;  the  only  exception  of  any  moment  has  been  the 
!N'ew  York  "  Herald,"  which  has  steadily  favored  the 
Sultan.  The  reason  is  the  same  as  for  General  Wal- 
lace's like  opinion  of  that  worthless  animal, —  mis- 
taking his  entertainments  and  gifts  for  proofs  of  good 
character,  humanity,  and  statesmanship.  Mr.  Ben- 
nett, too,  knows  the  taste  of  the  dinners  at  the  palace, 
and  perhaps  the  weight  of  the  golden  ornaments  he 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         203 

gives  out.  Fortunately  his  paper  has  very  little  in- 
lluence  on  public  opinion;  and  the  real  leaders  of  it 
have  remained  true. 

I  believe  it  will  be  the  Americans  who  will  finally 
put  an  end  to  the  Ariuonian  atrocities;  but  the  time 
has  not  come  yet.  It  will  take  two  years  more,  then 
this  70,000,000  of  people  will  be  aroused  as  one  man 
and  stop  them.  I  should  like  here  to  give  an  account 
of  the  many  mass  meetings  held  here  for  our  cause; 
but  I  can  only  take  space  for  two,  one  which  I  organ- 
ized in  Baltimore,  and  one  held  in  New  York,  at 
which  I  was  present. 

Mass-Meeting  at  Levering  Hall,  Baltimore 

[Report  from  Baltimore  Sun.] 

December  11,  1894. — An  enthusiastic  meeting  of 
Baltimoreans  was  held  last  night  at  Levering  Hall, 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  to  make  an  emphatic  pro- 
test against  the  Turkish  outrages  upon  Christian  Ar- 
menians, and  to  urge  the  United  States  government 
to  do  all  in  its  power  to  remedy  the  existing  evils. 

The  meeting  was  called  by  a  committee  of  Balti- 
more ministers.  It  was  presided  over  by  Attorney- 
General  John  P.  Poe,  and  the  Rev.  T.  M.  Beadenkoff 
was  the  secretary. 

Addresses  were  made  by  Mr.  Poe,  Rev.  George  H. 
Filian,  an  exiled  Armenian  Christian  Minister,  Rabbi 
Wm.  Rosenan,  and  Rev.  Dr.  F.  M.  Ellis. 

Cardinal  Gibbons  and  Judge  Harlan  sent  letters 
regretting  their  inability  to  be  present,  and  express- 
ing sympathy  with  the  object  of  the  gathering. 

Mr.  Poe,  in  taking  the  chair,  said: — "The  ac- 
counts which  have  reached  us  of  the  indescribable 
atrocities  recently  committed  upon  the  Christians  in 


204  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Armenia  have  stirred  the  indignation  and  aroused  the 
sympathy  of  the  whole  country. 

''  At  first  the  nameless  outrages  inflicted  upon 
them  were  received  with  incredulity,  for  it  seemed  al- 
most impossible  that  they  could  be  true.  But  there  is 
now  no  reason  to  discredit  the  harrowing  details.  In- 
deed, denial  is  hardly  any  longer  attempted,  nor  is  it 
claimed  that  the  reports  of  the  cruelties  of  which  these 
helpless  people  are  the  victims  have  been  exaggerated. 

*'  Conscious  that  the  facts  cannot  be  suppressed 
or  belittled,  the  representatives  and  apologists  of  the 
ruthless  perpetrators  of  these  atrocities  are  endeavor- 
ing to  palliate  and  excuse  the  enormities  which  they 
cannot  truthfully  deny.  In  order  to  shield  them- 
selves and  their  governments  from  universal  execra- 
tion, the  world  is  asked  to  believe  that  the  Christians 
of  Armenia  were  themselves  the  aggressors,  and  that 
the  horrors  of  massacre  and  rapine  which  have  been 
visited  upon  them  with  such  relentless  fury  were  but 
necessary  and  pardonable  measures  of  pimishment  and 
repression.  The  long  record  of  the  patient  and  sub- 
missive sufferers  is  a  silent  yet  unanswerable  refuta- 
tion of  this  falsehood. 

"  In  their  misery  and  woe  these  sufferers  lift  their 
eyes  to  us,  and  ask  us  to  extend  to  them  such  sympathy 
and  assistance  as  will  rescue  them  from  total  ruin. 

"  We  are  met  here  to-night  to  express  these  feel- 
ings —  to  declare  that  we  cannot  look  unmoved  upon 
the  calamities  of  our  Christian  brethren,  though  sep- 
arated from  us  by  thousands  of  miles,  and  to  recom- 
mend to  Congress  the  adoption  of  such  measures  as, 
without  departure  from  the  well-settled  policy  of  our 
government,  will  bring;  to  them  speedy  and  effectual 
deliverance,  safety,  and  peace." 

Cardinal  Gibbons'  letter  sent  to  the  meeting  was 
as  follows: 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         205 

"  I  regret  my  inability  to  attend  the  meeting  to 
protest  against  the  alleged  outrages  recently  com- 
mitted in  Armenia. 

"  The  reports  of  these  outrages  have  been  pub- 
lished with  harrowing  details  throughout  the  civilized 
world,  and  I  am  not  aware  that  these  circumstantial 
details  have  been  successfully  denied. 

"  The  Christians  of  Armenia  have  been  conspicu- 
ous among  their  Oriental  co-religioni§ts  for  their  en- 
lightened and  progressive  spirit. 

"It  is  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  these  alleged 
deeds  of  lawless  violence  will  be  thoroughly  investi- 
gated in  a  calm  and  dispassionate  spirit,  so  that  the 
whole  truth  may  be  brought  to  light,  and  that  out- 
raged law  may  be  vindicated.  The  recital  of  these  in- 
human cruelties  is  calculated  to  fill  every  generous 
heart  with  righteous  indignation. 

"  The  commercial  and  social  ties  that  now  bind 
together  the  human  family  quicken  our  sympathy  for- 
our  suffering  brethren,  though  separated  from  us  by 
ocean  and  mountains,  and  this  sympathy  is  deepened 
by  the  consideration  that  many  of  their  countrymen 
have  cast  their  lot  among  us,  and  that  they  and  their 
persecuted  brethren  are  united  to  us  in  the  sacred 
bonds  of  a  common  Christian  faith. 

"  It  is  gratifying  to  note,  from  recent  publications, 
that  a  mixed  commission,  to  make  thorough  investiga- 
tion, has  been  appointed  by  the  Sublime  Porte." 

Dr.  Cyrus  Hamlin  of  Lexington,  Mass.,  whose 
article  on  the  outrages  in  Armenia,  published  in  the 
"Congregationalist,"  has  been  used  by  the  Turkish  gov- 
ernment as  a  defense  of  the  recent  actions  of  the  sol- 
diers of  the  Porte,  was  asked  to  be  present  at  the  meet- 
ing, and  was  also  asked  to  define  his  position  as  to  the 
probable  accuracy  of  the  reports  from  Armenia,  and  as 


206  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

to  the  responsibility  of  the  Sultan  for  the  occurrence 
of  the  massacre. 

His  letter  of  reply  was  read  at  the  meeting.  Ho 
stated  emphatically  that  he  believed  the  accounts 
of  the  horrible  atrocities  to  be  in  the  main  true,  and 
added  that  he  believed  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  was  per- 
fectly cognizant  of  them,  and  should  be  held  respon- 
sible for  them. 

Extracts  were  also  read  from  a  letter  from  some 
Congregational  missionaries  now  near  the  seat  of  the 
massacres.  The  stories  which  they  told,  having  been 
written  nearly  a  month  after  the  occurrences,  showed 
that  the  earlier  dispatches  did  not  enlarge  upon  or  ex- 
aggerate the  horror  of  the  scenes. 

Much  interest  was  manifested  in  the  address  of 
Mr.  Filian,  who  feelingly  described  the  pitiable  con- 
dition of  his  country  and  his  countrymen,  and  graph- 
ically portrayed  the  extent  of  the  recent  massacres, 
illustrating  his  talk  with  references  to  a  large  map 
of  Turkey  and  Armenia. 

"  Armenia,''  he  said,  "  was  mentioned  in  the  Bible 
700  years  before  Chris!.  It  then  had  an  area  of  1,- 
000,000  square  miles,  and  it  was  in  that  land  that  the 
Garden  of  Eden  was  situated.  Adam  was  created 
there,  and  within  its  confines,  upon  Mt.  Ararat,  the 
ark  of  Noah  found  a  resting  place  after  the  flood.  Ar- 
menia was  named  after  Armen,  the  great-grandson  of 
Japhet,  one  of  the  three  sons  of  Noah.  In  the  time 
of  Christ  the  population  of  the  country  was  40,000,- 
000.  It  was  fully  Christianized  in  310  A.  D.,  and 
was  not  only  the  first  Christian  nation  of  the  earth, 
but  the  first  civilized  nation.  And  now,  from  all 
these  glories,  the  people  of  Armenia  have  dwindled 
to  4,000,000." 

He  concluded  by  citing  the  cause  of  the  massacre 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         207 

as  the  desire  of  the  Turks  to  check  the  rapid  growth 
and  improvement  of  the  Armenians. 

The  following  resolutions,  which  had  been  pre- 
pared by  a  committee  composed  of  Rev.  Dr.  Conrad 
Clever,  Rev.  W.  T.  McKenney,  Rev.  F.  T.  Tagg,  and 
Rev.  C.  A.  Fulton,  were,  after  some  discussion, 
passed: 

"  It  has  come  to  our  knowledge  through  sources  that 
cannot  be  disputed  that  an  outrageous  massacre  of  Ar- 
menians has  been  executed  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
Turkish  empire. 

"  These  outrages  have  been  committed  by  soldiers  who 
are  in  the  employ  and  under  the  direction  of  the  Sultan  at 
Constantinople. 

"  The  thousands  who  have  been  murdered  were  Chris- 
tians and  peaceably  disposed  citizens. 

"  We,  representatives  of  the  citizens  of  Baltimore, 
prompted  by  motives  of  Christianity  and  common  brother- 
hood, do  call  upon  our  government  to  use  every  power  in  its 
control,  in  harmony  with  that  international  law  which 
governs  nations  in  their  relationship  with  each  other,  to  aid 
these  sufferers,  and  if  possible  to  bring  such  influence  to 
bear  upon  the  Turkish  government  as  will  render  justice  to 
those  who  have  been  deprived  of  their  rightful  liberties  as 
honest  and  industrious  citizens  of  one  of  the  recognized  em- 
pires of  the  earth." 

It  was  also  resolved  that  a  committee  of  five,  with 
Mr.  John  P.  Poe  chairman,  should  be  appointed  to 
present  the  resolutions  to  the  president  at  the  earliest 
opportunity,  and  "  to  gratefully  acknowledge  the  steps 
already  taken  in  the  appointment  of  an  American 
member  of  the  committee  of  investigation." 

Mass  Meeting  In  Dr.  Greer's  Church. 

[Report  from  N.  Y.  Tribane.] 

The  interest  which  the  American  Christian  feels 
in  the  Armenian  question  was  show^n  by  the  large  at- 
tendance at  St.  Bartholomew's  Church,  last  night, 
when  a  special  service  was  held  under  the  direction  of 
Rev.  Dr.  David  H.  Greer.     The  object  was  to  express 


208  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

indignation  at  Turkey's  acts  of  violence  toward  Ar- 
menians, and  to  enter  a  protest  against  a  course  of  con- 
duct which  is  not  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 

The  main  body  of  the  church  was  reserved  for 
Armenians,  of  whom  there  were  about  500  present. 

After  the  processional  hymn,  "  The  Son  of  God 
Goes  Forth,"  had  been  given,  the  full  choir  sang  the 
anthem,  "  I  Will  Mention  the  Loving  Kindnesses  of 
the  Lord." 

Dr.  Greer  then  spoke  of  the  outrages  committed 
last  September  in  Armenia,  the  particulars  of  which 
had  only  recently  become  known.     He  said  in  part: 

"  The  purpose  of  this  meeting  is  not  only  to  ex- 
press sympathy  with  those  who  have  suffered,  and  are 
suffering  now  from  the  atrocities  and  barbarious  cruel- 
ties inflicted  by  Turkish  soldiers,  but  for  protesting 
against  the  further  infliction  of  such  atrocities.  What 
has  been  done  is  done,  and  cannot  be  undone;  but  if 
it  is  possible  to  prevent  in  any  measure  a  repetition 
of  it  in  the  future,  it  should  become  everyone  who  is 
not  a  Christian  merely,  but  a  man,  to  exert  himself 
to  the  utmost  in  that  direction." 

The  speaker  told  of  the  untrustworthiness  of  re- 
ports from  Turkey,  and  said  that  letters  recently  re- 
ceived from  good  sources  give  the  following  details: 

Early  in  September  some  Kurds  —  the  brigands 
of  that  region  —  robbed  some  Armenian  villages  of 
their  flocks.  The  Armenians  tried  to  recover  their 
property,  and  about  a  dozen  Kurds  were  killed.  The 
authorities  then  telegraphed  to  the  Sultan  that  the 
Armenians  had  killed  some  of  the  Sultan's  troops. 
The  Sultan  on  hearing  this  ordered  the  army,  infan- 
try, and  cavalry,  to  put  down  the  rebellion;  and  not 
finding  any  rebellion  to  put  down,  they  cleared  the 
country  so  that  none  should  occur  in  the  future.     A 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         200 

number  of  towns  and  villages  —  the  estimate  varying 
from  twenty-four  to  forty-eight  —  were  destroyed. 
Men,  women,  and  children  were  put  to  the  sword,  and 
from  six  to  ten  thousand  persons  massacred  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Sassoun.  As  the  result  of  this  wholesale 
butchery  and  slaughter,  an  epidemic  of  cholera  has 
broken  out,  which  is  still  ravaging  the  country. 

The  Turk  has  always  been  a  cruel  force,  and  has 
practiced  his  cruelties  hitherto  with  impunity.  But 
he  cannot  do  so  now.  An  enlightened  public  opinion 
is  to-day  the  governing  power  of  the  world.  It  is  to 
that  we  have  to  trust  to  accomplish  moral  reforms, 
not  only  here,  but  everywhere.  It  is  stronger  than 
states;  it  is  mightier  than  empires,  and  the  most  ar- 
bitrary and  autocratic  of  despots  feel  its  controlling 
force.  It  is  the  force  that  moves  the  world.  If  meet- 
ings similar  to  this  are  held  in  different  parts  of 
the  country  and  public  sentiment  aroused,  even  the 
Turkish  authorities  will  not  be  impervious  to  it. 

Dr.  Greer  read  a  letter  from  Bishop  Potter,  in 
which  he  expressed  his  regret  at  being  imable  to  be 
present  at  the  meeting.  "  I  am,"  he  wrote,  "  A  Mon- 
roe-doctrine disciple,  first,  last,  and  all  time,  but  I 
am  a  human  being  also,  and  while  I  think  our  com- 
petency as  a  nation  to  send  a  commissioner  to  Turk- 
ish-Armenia is  open  to  question,  I  am  quite  clear  that 
our  duty  as  something  else  than  savages  is  to  protest 
against  barbarism  wherever  it  is  to  be  found." 

The  Rev.  Abraham  Johannan  then  spoke  in  Ar- 
menian, and  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  George 
11.  McGrew,  who,  during  years  of  missionary  work 
in  Armenia,  had  become  familiar  with  the  people  and 
their  customs,  and  gave  vivid  pictures  of  the  hatred 
of  the  Turks  toward  any  who  acknowledges  Christ  as 
the  Son  of  God. 
14 


210  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Mr.  Depew'8  Speech, 

Chauncey  M.  Depew  was  then  introduced,  and 
made  an  eloquent  appeal  for  the  Armenians.  He  said 
in  part: 

''  The  closing  days  of  1894  could  not  be  passed 
more  appropriately  than  in  a  protest  by  the  Christian 
peoples  of  the  world  against  the  outrages  upon  human- 
ity which  will  be  the  ever-living  disgrace  of  the  dying 
year.  The  industrial  and  financial  disturbances  which 
have  convulsed  the  world,  and  caused  such  widespread 
distress  during  the  last  twelve  months,  are  of  tem- 
porary and  passing  importance  compared  with  the 
merciless  persecutions  of  a  people  because  of  their 
religious  faith. 

'^  It  is  a  criticism  upon  the  boastfulness  of  the 
nineteenth  century  that  there  should  be  any  occasion 
for  this  meeting,  but  it  is  also  a  tribute  to  the  spirit  of 
the  century  that  this  meeting  is  held.  There  have 
been  religious  wars  and  persecutions,  and  bloody  re- 
prisals, in  all  ages  of  modern  times.  They  arouse  our 
indignation  and  our  horror,  but  they  excited  little  at- 
tention beyond  the  countries  where  they  occurred 
from  the  twelfth  to  the  nineteenth  centuries.  The 
distinguishing  feature  of  our  period  is  an  internation- 
al public  opinion.  It  came  with  steam  and  electricity; 
it  is  the  child  of  liberty  of  conscience.  The  Turkish 
government,  founded  by  the  sword  of  Islam,  is  a  hier- 
archv  and  a  creed,  and  not  a  government  of  liberty  and 
law." 

Mr.  Depew  then  described  the  disadvantages 
under  which  Christians  dwell  in  Turkey,  and  how 
their  standing  before  the  law  amounts  to  nothing. 

"  It  was  the  atrocities  incident  to  such  institutions," 
he  said,  "  which  aroused  Europe  and  liberated  Greece, 
which  caused  the  other  nations  to  stand  still  and  risk 
the  balance  of  power,  while  Russia  freed  Bulgaria, 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  AHxMENlA.         211 

Roumania,  and  Servia,  and  made  them  practically  in- 
dependent states.  It  was  to  assure  religious  liberty 
that  the  treaty  of  Berlin  recognized  the  autonomy 
of  the  states,  and  bound  the  Christian  nations  of  Eu- 
rope to  protect  the  Christian  people  still  within  the 
Turkish  dominion." 

After  holding  up  to  ridicule  the  European 
"  peace  "  which  is  being  maintained  with  continually 
growing  armies,  Mr.  Depew  said:  *' The  Armenians 
are  the  Kew  Englanders  of  the  East.  Their  intel- 
lect, industry,  and  thrift  make  them  prosperous."  He 
spoke  of  their  being  the  oldest  Christian  people,  and 
of  the  sacrifices  which  they  have  made  and  which  they 
daily  make  in  the  cause  of  their  faith.  The  horrible 
outrages  committed  against  the  peasants  in  Armenia 
were  graphically  described,  and  in  this  connection  Mr. 
Depew  said: 

"  The  story  of  the  attacks  of  these  savage  hordes 
and  no  less  savage  troops  reads  as  if  fourteenth-cen- 
tury conditions,  repeated  with  all  their  horrors  in 
1894,  were  the  means  adopted  by  Providence  to 
shame  the  civilized  world  into  the  performance  of  its 
duty,  and  to  stir  the  Christian  conscience  to  a  sense 
of  its  neglect  of  it." 

Mr.  Depew's  description  of  the  heroism  of  the  Ar- 
menian women  who,  rather  than  be  captured  by  the 
Turks  and  suffer  defilement,  threw  themselves  into  the 
ravine  which  surrounded  their  village,  moved  the 
audience  deeply.     He  went  on: 

"  The  world  has  taken  little  note  of  this  supreme 
tragedy.  Fifty  years  from  now,  and  some  painter 
wall  become  immortal  by  putting  it  upon  canvas.  A 
few  years,  and  some  novelist  will  mount  to  enduring 
fame  by  a  romance,  of  which  it  will  be  the  center. 
A  few  years,  and  some  poet  will  embalm  it  in  verse 
which  will  stand  in  literature  alongside  of  the  battle 


212  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

lyrics  of  Campbell,  Macaulay,  and  Tennyson.  Some 
orator  will  give  to  the  narrative  and  its  lesson  a  setting 
and  an  inspiration,  so  that  from  the  stage  of  the  school 
and  the  academy,  from  the  lips  of  the  boys  and  the 
girls,  it  will  teach  down  the  centuries  the  triumphs 
of  patriotism  and  faith. 

'^  Yesterday  an  old  man  of  world-wide  fame  cel- 
ebrated his  eighty-fifth  birthday.  He  had  been  the 
ruler  of  the  British  Empire  —  he  is  a  private  citizen. 
Among  the  utterances  which  he  deemed  appropriate, 
in  reply  to  the  congratulations  which  came  to  him 
from  every  land,  was  an  indignant  protest  against 
the  outrages  against  the  Armenian  Christians,  and  a 
demand  upon  the  Christian  people  of  the  earth*  to 
compel  their  governments  to  call  upon  Turkey  for  a 
halt. 

"  This  warning  and  appeal  from  the  lips  of  Mr. 
Gladstone  was  flashed  across  continents  and  under 
oceans;  it  penetrated  cabinets,  it  thundered  in  the 
ears  of  sovereigns,  and  through  the  great  journals  it 
thrilled  every  household  and  every  church  of  every 
race  and  of  every  tongue. 

"  To-morrow  —  aye,  to-day  —  Rosebery  is  con- 
sulting with  the  French  Premier,  and  France  and  Eng- 
land are  speaking  to  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  and 
the  young  Czar  and  the  King  of  Italy,  and  the  Em- 
peror of  Austria  for  united  action,  which  will 
bring  the  Turk  to  mercy,  peace,  and  liberty  for  the 
Armenian  Christian  without  destroying  the  equili- 
brium of  Europe. 

"  We  seek  no  foreign  alliances,  we  court  no  inter- 
national complications,  but  we  claim  the  right  under 
the  Fatherhood  of  God  to  demand  for  our  brother  and 
our  sister  in  the  distant  East,  law,  justice,  and  the 
exercise  of  conscience.'' 

Dr.  Greer  then  read  resolutions  expressing  sympa- 


THE  GREAT  POWERS  AND  ARMENIA.         213 

thy  for  the  Armenians,  and  protesting  against  further 
outrages.     The  document  closes  as  follows; 

"  Resolved,  That  we  hereby  extend  our  deeiiest  sympathy 
to  the  Armeuiau  people  who,  for  their  Christian  faith,  have 
repeatedly  suffered  unsijeakable  cruelties  from  their  Turkish 
rulers  and  Kurdish  neijjlihors; 

**  Resolved,  Tliat  we  hereby  express  to  our  Christian 
brethren  in  England  and  on  the  continent,  who  are  en- 
deavoring to  investigate  these  outrages  and  to  bring  the 
perpetrators  of  them  to  justice,  our  hearty  good-will  and 
godspeed.  We  hope  and  believe  that  they  will  not  pause 
until  the  extent  of  these  atrocities  is  clearly  ascertained 
and  the  responsibility  for  them  finally  fixed; 

"  Resolved,  That  in  their  efforts  to  provide  against  the  re- 
currence of  similar  acts  of  oppression  in  the  future,  they 
shall  receive  our  hearty  and  unwavering  moral  support; 

"  Resolved,  That  we  earnestly  call  upon  our  Cliristian 
fellow-citizens  everywhere  throughout  the  country  to  organ- 
ize and  express  an  indignant  and  universal  protest  against 
the  continuance  of  a  state  of  affair*  under  which  it  is 
possible  for  women  and  children  to  be  murdered  simply  be- 
cause they  are  Christians." 

The  resolutions  were  adopted  by  a  rising  vote, 
and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany,  Archdeacon  of  New  York, 
pronounced  the  benediction. 

Very  many  such  mass  meetings  were  held  in  dif- 
ferent cities  of  the  United  States.  The  U.  S.  Senate 
discussed  the  question  and  made  similar  resolutions. 
Mr.  Call  submitted  the  following  as  a  substitute  for 
the  committee  resolutions: 

**  'That  humanity  and  religion,  and  the  principles  on  which 
all  civilization  rests,  demand  that  the  civilized  governments 
shall,  by  peaceful  negotiations,  or,  if  necessary,  by  force  of 
arms,  prevent  and  suppress  the  cruelties  and  massacres  in- 
flicted on  the  Armenian  subjects  of  Turkey,  by  the  establish- 
ment of  a  government  of  their  own  people,  with  such  guaran- 
tees by  the  civilized  powers  of  its  authority  and  permanence 
as  shall  be  adequate  to  that  end.'  " 

All  these  resolutions,  both  of  the  people  and  the 
Senate,  went  to  President  Cleveland,  but  he  has  not 
seen  fit  to  act  on  them.  It  would  be  absurd  to  impute 
this  to  weakness  or  unwillingness  to  decide  a  new  ques- 


214  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

tion:  Mr.  Cleveland,  whatever  his  limitations,  has 
never  lacked  firmness  or  decision.  Doubtless  it  is  be- 
cause he  thinks  this  country  ought  not  to  break  away 
from  its  old  traditions  and  involve  itself  with  Euro- 
pean concerns.  But  this  is  not  a  European  concern; 
it  is  European,  Asiatic,  American,  the  world's;  the 
concern  of  all  humanity,  not  to  say  Christianity. 

It  concerns  the  lives  and  result  of  sixty  years' 
work  of  American  missionaries;  the  government  can- 
not wash  its  hands  of  all  concern  or  responsibility  for 
them,  and  alone  of  all  great  powers  declare  that  its 
Christian  citizens  may  not  spread  Christianity.  And 
a  great  and  rich  nation  has  no  more  right  to  go  off 
with  its  hands  in  its  pockets,  and  declare  that  it  has 
no  obligation  to  the  well-being  of  the  world,  than  a 
great,  rich  man  has  a  right  to  declare  that  he  has  no 
obligation  to  society.  The  rich  man  only  keeps  his 
money  because  there  is  a  civilized  society  with  laws 
and  policemen  to  protect  him  in  it;  this  nation  only 
keeps  at  peace  because  other  nations'  civilization  and 
international  law  prevent  a  great  combination  to  plun- 
der it.  It  ought  to  accept  its  share  of  the  general 
social  duty  —  man  the  fire  pumps,  and  do  police  work 
if  needed;  arid  not  let  a  thug  murder  one  of  its  com- 
panions —  nay,  relatives  —  before  its  eyes.  It  is 
bound  as  a  Christian  state  not  to  let  a  bloody  and 
sensual  Mohammedan  barbarism  extinguish  the  light 
of  a  sister  Christian  community;  it  is  bound  as  a  na- 
tion of  civilized  beings  not  to  let  a  horde  of  savages 
like  its  own  Indians  stamp  out  a  civilized  nation  mil- 


THE  GREAT  POWEUS  AND  AUMKNIA.         215 

lions  in  number  by  horrors  unspeakable,  every  atroc- 
ity of  butchery,  and  rape,  and  torture  that  ever  sprung 
from  the  cruelty  or  the  lust  of  man.  These  things 
are  as  awful,  as  hideous  to  the  Armenians  as  they 
would  be  to  you  if  fifty  thousand  Indians  overflowed 
(yolorado  and  inflicted  them  on  your  American  fam- 
ilies. What  would  you  feel  and  do  if  most  of  that 
State  were  turned  into  a  burnt  desolation,  with  here 
and  there  a  cabin  standing,  Denver  half  obliterated 
and  ten  thousand  of  its  inhabitants  slaughtered  in 
cold  blood,  himdreds  impaled,  or  burnt,  or  flayed 
alive,  the  sisters  and  daughters  of  your  own  house- 
holds by  thousands  violated  over  and  over,  thousands 
made  slaves  and  concubines  in  the  wigwams  of  dirty 
Indian  brutes,  and  others  wandering  as  naked  beggars 
in  the  wintry  snows  about  the  ruins  of  their  once  happy 
homes  ?  Yet  this  is  a  picture  of  what  happened  over 
part  of  Armenia ;  can  you  think  it  is  of  no  concern  to 
you  ?  Ought  Congress  and  the  President  to  think  it 
of  no  concern  to  them  ?  Surely  there  are  some  things 
where  national  lines  ought  not  to  count. 

Mr.  Cleveland  has  been  unfortunate  in  his  advisers, 
partly  chosen  by  himself,  and  partly  inherited.  Min- 
ister Terrill  has  taken  the  word  of  the  Sultan  and  the 
palace  clique,  and  made  no  attempt  to  investigate  for 
himself;  consequently  he  is  full  of  respect  for  the 
Mohammedans,  and  scorn  for  the  Armenians.  Ad- 
miral Kirtland  visited  a  few  seaports,  found  the  Ar- 
menians there  working  as  usual  (of  course  —  the  mas- 
sacres were  carried  on  where  news  could  be  inter- 


216  ARI^IENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

cepted  and  suppressed  by  the  Turks),  and  reports  that 
he  didn't  find  any  evidence  of  outrages  or  disorders, 
and  considers  the  stories  false,  or  much  exaggerated. 
And  such  lazy  or  prejudiced  negatives  as  these  are 
to  be  counted  as  outweighing  the  sworn  official  re- 
ports of  consuls  on  the  spot,  and  of  pitiful  letters  from 
the  survivors  among  the  very  victims  themselves  ! 

I  have  said  that  Mr.  Cleveland  does  not  lack  firm- 
ness. He  does  not  in  internal  policy,  but  he  cer- 
tainly did  not  show  enough  in  the  matter  of  these 
atrocities.  The  Sultan  asked  him  to  nominate  a  com- 
missioner to  join  those  of  other  powers  in  inves- 
tigating the  Sassoun  massacres.  He  appointed  Milo 
A.  Jewett,  consul  at  Sivas;  but  Mr.  Jewett  was  much 
too  keen  and  forcible  a  man  for  the  Sultan,  who  re- 
fused to  let  him  take  his  place  on  the  commission.  Mr. 
ClcA^eland  did  not  insist,  as  he  ought.  The  very  fact 
that  the  Sultan  did  not  want  it,  was  the  best  of  reasons 
for  persisting. 

Again,  last  year,  the  Senate  voted  to  send  two 
more  consuls  to  Armenia;  Mr.  Cleveland  appointed 
Messrs.  Chilton  and  Hunter  to  go  to  Erzeroum  and 
Harpoot  respectively,  but  the  Sultan  refused  to  accept 
them,  and  they  had  to  come  back.  To  consent  to  this 
was  wrong  and  weak;  the  American  government 
should  firmly  declare  its  right  to  protect  its  own  in- 
terests in  its  own  way. 

But  the  President  will  act  if  the  American  people 
will  stand  at  his  back.  When  will  they  send  forth 
a  mandate  that  these  horrors  must  stop  ? 


i      I   ^.  '        '. 


-«-.'% 


tit'-'  ''%i 


CIUCASSIANS. 


aEOllOlAXS. 


VI. 

THE   CAUSES   OF   THE   ATROCITIES. 

THE  GREAT  QUESTION. 

The  Armenian  atrocities  can  never  be  fully  under- 
stood by  those  who  may  be  born  in  a  free  land,  where 
there  are  no  Turks,  no  Kurds,  no  Circassians,  no  Geor- 
gians, no  Zeibecks,  and  no  Mohammedan  religion,  with 
its  oppressions  and  persecutions. 

Why  the  Sultan  orders  the  Turks,  Kurds,  or  other 
followers  to  destroy  the  Armenians,  whereby  more 
than  100,000  of  them  have  recently  been  killed,  and 
500,000  been  rendered  homeless  and  left  to  die  of  star- 
vation in  the  streets  and  fields,  or  why  the  Sultan 
ordered  all  who  are  spared  to  accept  the  Mohammedan 
religion,  is  never  referred  to  with  any  sort  of  correct- 
ness by  the  newspapers  or  periodicals  in  their  accounts 
of  the  dreadful  atrocities  taking  place  in  Armenia,  and 
therefore  the  people  are  left  in  ignorance  and  doubt 
respecting  the  true  situation  both  as  to  the  causes  and 
the  atrocities  themselves. 

FIRST  CAUSE. 

The  first  cause  is  a  very  simple  one.  That  the  Ar- 
menians are  Christians,  and  the  Turks,  Kurds,  Circas- 
sians, and  Georgians  in  Turkey  are  Mohammedans, 
and  the  Mohammedan  religion  urges  brutality.     It 

(217) 


218  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE.  / 

has  already  been  shown  to  be  not  a  religion,  but  a 
system  of  falsehood,  hatred,  cruelty,  lust,  and  sensual- 
ity; of  course,  these  things  combined  can  ocly  result 
in  corruption.  It  would  seem  that  Mohammed  must 
have  taken  his  inspiration  from  both  the  domestic  fowl 
and  a  bull.  A  rooster  is  a  poly gamist ;  he  has  his  hens 
without  limit.  So  Mohammed,  the  professed  prophet, 
had  wives  without  limit.  He  claimed  to  have  received 
a  revelation  from  Heaven  directing  him  to  take  to  him- 
self any  woman  he  pleased,  no  matter  whether  she  was 
married  and  had  a  husband  or  not;  that  made  no  dif- 
ference with  Mohammed.  He  took  any  woman  he 
wanted,  and  if  her  husband  objected  he  was  sure  to 
be  put  to  death.  Mohammedans  cannot  differ  from 
their  prophet,  they  follow  him,  they  strive  to  imitate 
him  just  as  much  as  true  Christians  strive  to  follow 
and  imitate  Christ.  Further,  cocks,  as  a  rule,  have 
crowing  spells  five  times  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  gen- 
erally mount  a  high  place  and  do  their  screaming  there. 
So  the  Mohammedan  priests,  who  are  called  Moezzins, 
ascend  a  minaret,  or  a  tower,  and  five  times  in  twenty 
four  hours  they  call  the  people  to  worship.  There 
is  so  little  confidence  placed  in  the  priests  or  criers 
that  the  people  prefer  to  have  a  blind  one  go  on  the 
minaret  to  give  the  calls,  so  that  he  may  not  see  their 
women  unveiled  in  their  houses. 

From  a  bull,  because  he  is  not  only  immoderately 
lustful,  but  fierce  and  destructive;  and  the  farmers 
say  that  the  older  he  grows,  the  worse  he  is  in  both  re- 
spects.    It    is   certainly   so    with    Mohammedans^, — 


THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  ATROCITIES.  210 

naturally  enough,  for  nothing  is  so  lickerish  as  an  old 
man  who  has  been  sensual  all  his  life,  and  cruelty  is  a 
trait  which  grows  with  indulgence.  The  Sultan  grows 
more  of  a  beast,  and  more  of  a  fiend  as  he  grows  older, 
and  all  the  Mohammedans  are  of  the  same  stripe. 
Armenian  men  and  Armenian  women  alike  dread  the 
approach  of  an  old  Turk  far  more  than  of  a  young 
one.  Unless  one  has  witnessed  a  fight  between  bulls, 
he  can  have  little  idea  of  Turkish  warfare.  No  animal 
fight  can  approach  it  in  ferocity  or  insatiability ;  when 
a  bull  conquers  another,  he  never  leaves  him  until  he 
gores  him  to  death.  So  when  Mohammedans  conquer 
a  nation,  be  sure  they  will  exterminate  it.  To  them 
mercy  means  apostasy ;  to  leave  a  man  alive  or  a  woman 
unravished  is  to  be  false  to  the  precepts  of  Mohammed. 
They  cannot  help  it,  it  is  their  religion;  a  religion 
for  wild  animals.  Their  priests  go  to  the  mosques  and 
preach  to  them  thus:  "  Believers  in  Mohammed,  love 
your  fellow  believers,  but  hate  and  kill  all  others;  they 
are  Giaours,  heathen  dogs,  filthy  hogs."  To  kill  a 
Christian  and  to  kill  a  hog  is  all  the  same  to  a  Moham- 
medan ;  there  is  as  little  sin  in  one  as  the  other.  The 
priests  say,  "  Ask  them  to  accept  our  religion;  if  they 
do,  you  must  not  harm  them ;  but  if  they  will  not,  kill 
them,  for  they  have  no  right  to  live  in  a  Mohammedan 
country.  It  is  not  only  no  sin,  but  a  great  virtue;  the 
more  Christians  you  kill,  the  greater  reward  you  will 
have  from  Allah  and  his  prophet  Mohammed."  The 
Turks  are  slaughtering  the  Armenians  to  earn  this  re- 
ward.    Of   course  if   the   men    apostatize   they   are 


220  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

spared;  but  the  Turk  lias  no  notion  of  losing  the  grat- 
ification of  his  lust  on  the  women  in  that  way.  A 
woman  who  falls  into  their  hands  need  not  hope  to 
keep  her  virtue  on  any  terms,  even  by  abjuring  her 
religion ;  they  violate  her  first,  and  force  her  to  become 
a  Mohammedan  afterwards. 

Let  it  be  fully  understood  throughout  the  Chris- 
tian world  that  the  massacre  is  a  religious  demand; 
the  Turks  have  to  comply.  As  a  Christian  tries  to  be 
faithful  to  Christ  and  his  teachings,  so  the  Turks  are 
trying  to  be  faithful  to  their  prophet  and  his.  They 
go  to  the  mosques  and  pray,  ^^  Allah,  help  us; 
strengthen  our  hands  and  sharpen  our  swords  to  kill 
the  infidel  Armenians.''  Then  they  come  from  the 
mosques  and  begin  to  kill,  and  plunder,  and  outrage, 
and  commit  every  sort  of  indescribable  atrocities  on  the 
peaceable  and  defenseless  Armenians.  And  it  will 
grow  worse  instead  of  better,  since  so-called  Christian 
nations  have  given  the  Sultan  public  notice  that  they 
will  not  interfere  with  him.  Do  not  be  deceived  by 
his  lying  reports;  there  was  no  Armenian  rebellion; 
they  could  not  rebel ;  they  did  not  kill  the  Turks,  they 
never  dreamed  of  such  madness.  This  awful  fate  has 
fallen  on  them  purely  and  simply  for  being  Christians. 

SECOND  CAUSE. 

This  seems  frivolous  and  incredible,  but  it  is  true; 
namely,  a  dream  of  the  Sultan. 

Some  six  years  ago,  a  report  was  circulated  in  Con- 
stantinople about  this  dream.     It  was,  that  in  his  sleep 


THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  ATUOCITIES.  221 

the  Sultan  saw  a  little  tree  planted  in  the  center  of 
his  kingdom.  It  began  to  grow  larger  and  larger, 
till  it  covered  the  whole  Turkish  Empire,  and  over- 
shadowed even  the  mountains.  All  the  nations  of 
Turkey  dwelt  under  its  glorious  and  majestic  shade. 
Still  it  grew,  till  the  branches  crossed  the  oceans  and 
covered  all  the  other  kingdoms,  finally  the  whole 
world.  He  woke,  but  the  dream  troubled  him  deeply, 
and  he  called  some  of  the  ulemas  or  wise  men,  of  whom 
he  always  has  a  number  in  his  palace,  to  interpret  it 
for  him.  They  explained  it  by  saying  that  the  tree 
was  Christianity;  Christian  missionary  work  in  the 
heart  of  his  empire.  It  was  a  menace  to  his  throne 
and  country,  and  would  grow  till  it  covered  the  world. 
The  Sultan,  alarmed  and  angry,  asked  what  he  should 
do.  The  ulemas  advised  him  to  cut  it  down  while  it 
was  small,  and  he  has  been  doing  his  best  to  follow 
their  advice.  He  did  not  dare  to  kill  the  missionaries, 
but  he  is  accomplishing  the  same  result  by  destroying 
their  churches  and  schools  and  forbidding  any  more 
to  be  built,  confiscating  all  religious  books,  and  killing 
the  native  Christian  ministers.  He  has  employed 
every  device  to  force  the  missionaries  to  depart  by 
paralyzing  their  work ;  if  they  chose  to  stay,  he  would 
accuse  them  of  inciting  the  natives  to  revolt.  He  has 
succeeded  so  far;  plunder,  burning,  torture,  murder, 
violation  and  forced  conversion  of  Christian  women, 
have  practically  put  an  end  to  missionary  work.  Now 
the  time  has  come  to  kill  the  missionaries;  and  he  will 
very  likely  find  some  excuse  for  doing  it  —  he  has 


222  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

an  arsenal  of  falsehoods  always  at  his  command. 
Quite  likely  he  will  say  the  Armenians  killed  them,  and 
then  murder  more  Armenians  in  reprisal.  His  cun- 
ning is  as  infinite  as  his  cruelty.  He  gives  a  charter 
to  a  missionary  institution  and  destroys  ten  others.  He 
invites  Minister  Terrell  to  the  palace,  gives  him  grand 
receptions,  and  loads  him  with  promises  and  flatteries, 
and  all  the  time  goes  on  obliterating  the  schools  and 
churches  and  killing  the  native  pastors.  He  creates 
a  i-uin;  when  the  European  powers  protest,  he  says  he 
will  make  amends,  and  he  does  it  by  perpetrating  a 
greater  one,  in  which  the  first  is  forgotten.  He  mas- 
sacres hundreds  in  a  city ;  when  the  powers  protest,  he 
says  he  will  restore  order,  and  does  it  by  ordering  thou- 
sands killed  in  another  city,  and  the  first  is  again  for- 
gotten. His  atrocities  increase  as  he  finds  that  he 
is  to  be  unmolested;  he  is  resolute  to  cut  down  that 
spreading  tree,  and  has  already  cut  thousands  of 
branches  from  it.  And  the  Christian  nations  look  on 
and  say  they  cannot  help  it.  They  know  perfectly 
well  what  is  going  on,  but  their  "  interests  "  of  one 
sort  or  another  will  not  permit  them  to  remove  that 
awful  blot  on  civilization. 

THIRD  CAUSE. 

The  Mohammedan  population  in  Turkey  is  decreas- ) 
ing,  and  the  Christians  are  increasing.     When  the 
present  Sultan  captured  the  throne  from  his  brother 
Murad,  Turkey  had  40,000,000  people;  as  soon  as  he 
girded  the  sword  of  Osman,  he  began  the  great  battle 


THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  ATROCITIES.  223 

with  Russia,  and  after  the  Turko-Russian  war  ho  found 
himself  with  18,000,000.  Who  are  the  lost  i  Rou- 
mania,  Bulgaria,  Servia,  Montenegro,  Bosnia,  Herze- 
govina, a  part  of  Macedonia,  C'yprus,  and  a  part  of 
Armenia.  Practically  the  whole  of  Europe  was  lost 
for  Turkey  except  Constantinople  and  the  district 
Edirne  or  Adrianople.  Turkey  is  not  an  empire  any 
more,  but  it  is  a  little  kingdom;  rather  a  little  feudal 
system,  or  more  accurately  still,  a  little  anarchy.  If 
it  were  not  for  mutual  European  jealousy,  the  Sultan 
could  not  keep  his  anarchism.  Yet  many  still  think 
that  the  Ottoman  Empire  is  a  great  one,  a  powerful 
government.  They  look  at  the  Sultan  and  his  domin- 
ion through  a  magnifying  glass.  This  shows  ignor- 
ance. The  Turks  are  decayed  and  are  decaying.  The 
sick  man  of  Turkey  is  the  dead  man  of  Turkey,  and 
ought  to  be  buried,  but  the  European  powers  do  not 
bury  him  because  there  are  precious  stones  and  jewelry 
in  the  coffin;  no  matter  how  bad  the  corpse  smells, 
they  will  endure  it.  And  the  bad  smell  of  the  Sultan 
is  killing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Christians;  but  the 
dead  stays  where  it  is,  and  may  stay  for  some  years, 
but  the  end  will  come  before  many  have  gone  by. 
AVTien  I  say  that  the  days  of  the  Sultan  are  numbered, 
and  the  brutal  Turkish  mis-rule  will  cease,  many  Amer- 
icans will  rejoin  "  that  the  same  has  often  been  said  long 
years  since,  though  the  empire  remains  to-day,  and 
seems  likely  to  remain."  The  fact  is,  however,  that 
during  my  own  life  more  than  half  of  it  has  gone  to 
pieces,  and  the  fragment  which  remains  will  go  to 


224  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

pieces  soon.  Permit  me  to  say  that  all  former  proph- 
ecies have  been  mistaken  because  those  who  made 
them  have  judged  and  misjudged  the  situation  from 
an  occidental  standpoint;  I  judge  it  from  that  of  a 
native,  who  knows  the  realities  as  only  a  native  can. 
What  can  an  English  ambassador  or  an  American  min- 
ister in  Constantinople,  staying  perhaps  two  or  three 
years,  and  entertained  and  decorated  by  the  crafty 
Sultan,  know  about  the  internal  state  of  Turkey  ? 
Having  traveled  through  the  country,  lived  and 
preached  for  years  at  a  time;  preached  in  different 
cities,  including  Constantinople,  I  can  see  signs  of  a 
break-up  that  a  foreigner  would  not  notice. 

The  reason  the  Turkish  population  does  not  in- 
crease is  this:  The  army  has  to  be  made  up  of  Mo- 
hammedans, partly  because  the  Sultan  does  not  put 
arms  into  the  hands  of  the  Christians,  for  obvious  rea- 
sons, since  they  have  no  motive  to  uphold  and  every 
motive  to  fight  him,  and  partly  because  to  be  a  soldier 
in  Turkey  is  a  holy  service,  the  privilege  of  Mohamme- 
dans alone.  As  there  is  a  large  standing  army,  nearly 
all  the  Mohammedan  youths  have  to  become  soldiers. 
Their  service  begins  when  they  are  about  twenty  years 
old.  The  shortest  term  is  five  years;  for  many  it  is 
ten;  and  even  after  that,  there  are  many  who  cannot 
escape.  If  a  young  Mohammedan  is  not  married  at 
twenty,  obviously  he  cannot  marry  until  twenty-five 
anyway,  and  perhaps  thirty, —  very  late  for  a  country 
population;  if  he  is  married  his  wife  is  virtually  a 
widow  for  five  to  ten  years.     Now  the  reader  can 


THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  ATROCITIES.  225 

see  my  drift.  With  marriages  so  late,  and  liusbands 
so  long  absent,  Turkish  families  are  small;  they  do 
not  make  good  the  deaths.  And  there  is  a  still  plainer 
cause:  The  soldiers  being  very  poorly  fed,  and  con- 
stant fighting  going  on,  ninety  per  cent,  die  in  the 
army,  and  so  never  have  any  families;  the  flower  of 
the  nation  perishes  barren.  Those  who  survive  and 
return  are  pale  and  sick,  good  for  nothing,  a  burden 
to  their  families  and  to  the  nation.  The  Armenians 
have  to  support  the  Sultan's  army,  since  they  do  not 
furnish  it,  but  they  rear  families,  and  are  drowning 
out  the  Turks. 

Another  cause  of  decrease  is  the  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca,  where  Mohammed  was  born.  On  an  average, 
a  million  pilgrims  go  there  every  year, —  of  course  not 
all  from  Turkey,  but  most  of  them,  and  every  year 
about  50,000  of  them  die  of  cholera  before  reaching 
home,  from  the  Holy  Well  (Zemzem  sooyi),  which  is 
full  of  unholy  foulness;  even  those  who  live  and  return 
home  take  that  water  to  their  families,  and  many  of 
the  latter  die  too.  Cholera  is  perpetual  in- Tu rkey ,  and 
it  originates  at  Mecca.  When  I  was  in  Marsovan 
twelve  at  one  time  went  on  the  pilgrimage  and  only 
four  returned.  It  is  a  great  virtue  to  die  where  !Mo- 
hammed  was  bom,  or  to  drink  that  water  and  die, 
and  they  are  going  to  him  at  a  rapid  rate.  Last  year, 
when  the  English,  Russian,  and  French  consuls  at 
Jiddeh,  the  seaport  of  Mecca,  established  a  quarantine 
to  detain  those  coming  from  Mecca  and  bringing 
cholera,^  they  were  murdered  by  the  Mohammedan 


226  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Arabs,  wlio  said  they  were  interfering  with  the 
sacred  religion,  and  the  Sultan  had  to  pay  the  in- 
demnity. 

Still  another  reason  is  the  shocking  increase  of 
abortions  among  the  wealthy  town  dwellers.  The 
Mohammedan  women  are  growing  to  love  selfish  in- 
dulgences better  than  the  duties  and  delights  of 
motherhood.  They  do  not  wish  to  be  "  bothered  "  by 
children,  and  they  take  medicine  to  prevent  having 
them.  Where  the  women  come  to  this,  it  is  better  for 
a  race  to  die  out;  they  have  outlived  their  purpose. 

A  fourth  cause  is  polygamy.  People  naturally 
think  that  marrying  more  than  one  wife  should  increase 
the  number  of  children;  but  the  facts  emphatically 
prove  the  reverse.  The  polygamous  Turks  do  not  in- 
crease as  fast  as  the  Christians  who  have  but  one  wife. 

For  the  fifth,  the  Turks  are  an  exceedingly  sensual 
race,  by  nature  and  education,  as  I  have  shown.  The 
very  religion  that  should  help  to  make  them  pure,  helps 
to  make  them  vile.  Lust  leads  them,  and  they  follow; 
nature  prompts,  and  their  religion  requires  it.  I  am 
ti'uly  ashamed  to  tell  it,  but  even  when  they  go  to  their 
mosques  to  worship,  they  manifest  ^heir  sensuality. 
Xot  only  the  relations  of  male  and  female  are  very 
rank,  but  between  male  and  male  they  are  worse;  be- 
tween the  old  Turks  and  young  Turks,  the  very  boys, 
the  relations  are  too  disgusting  to  describe.  All  such 
moral  corruptions  not  only  weaken  a  people's  forces 
morally,  but  physically  as  well;  they  substitute  barren 


THE  CAUSES  OP  THE  ATROCITIES.  227 

lusts  for  legitimate  gratifications,  selfish  passions  for 
mutual  ones. 

Hence  the  Mohammedans  are  fast  decreasing  in 
Turkey,  and  the  Sultan  is  terrified,  and  hopes  by  kill- 
ing a  large  part  of  the  Christians,  and  forcing  the  sur- 
vivors to  accept  Mohammedanism,  that  their  power 
of  nuiltiplication  may  be  the  boon  of  a  ^lohammedan 
people.  Out  of  the  18,000,000  inhabitants  of  Tur- 
key, 6,000,000  are  native  Christians,  about  half  of 
them  Armenians.  This  leaves  only  12,000,000  for 
the  whole  Mohammedan  population  in  the  present 
Turkish  dominion;  and  it  grows  less,  while  the  Chris- 
tian part  grows  greater.  To  check  this  increase,  the 
Sultan  a  few  years  ago  made  the  obtaining  of  a  mar- 
riage certificate  compulsory,  and  the  Turkish  authori- 
ties have  understood  that  they  are  to  make  it  as  hard  as 
possible  to  get;  it  has  cost  great  sums  of  money  to  ob- 
tain it.  But  for  many  months  now,  there  have  been 
no  marriages  at  all  in  Armenia;  the  authorities  will  not 
grant  certificates  on  any  terms,  and  to  prevent  any 
more  Christians  being  bom,  the  daughters  and  young 
brides  of  the  murdered  thousands  are  made  mothers 
through  violation  by  the  Turks  and  Kurds. 

The  Christians  have  been  increasing  not  only  from 
within,  but  from  without.  Europeans  have  begim  to 
go  wherever  railroads  go.  Hence  another  reason  for 
massacre  and  forced  conversion.  That  the  Sultan  has 
been  planning  this  massacre  ever  since  the  Turko-Rus- 
sian  war  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  after  the  war  he 
encouraged    or    ordered    a    number    of    Mohamme- 


228  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

dan  tribes  —  Circassians,  Georgians,  Kurds,  and 
Lazes  —  to  emigrate  from  Russia  to  Armenia,  con- 
fiscated masses  of  Christians'  property,  and  gave 
it  to  them,  and  directed  them  to  reduce  the 
number  of  Armenian  Christians  by  any  way  they 
saw  fit,  giving  them  full  license  to  do  what 
they  would  with  Armenians,  without  penalty.  You 
know  what  that  means  with  fierce  tribes  of  human  wild 
animals,  cruel  and  foul,  and  he  knew  what  it  meant 
too,  and  intended  it  to  mean  that.  Before  his  time 
the  Christians  far  outnumbered  the  Mohammedans  in 
Armenia  proper;  but  under  his  ^'  government  '^ —  his 
deliberate  policy  of  extermination  —  great  numbers 
fled  the  country,  numbers  were  killed  and  their  women 
made  concubines  to  Mohammedans,  and  now  the  Mo- 
hammedans are  more  numerous  in  Armenia  than  the 
Armenian  Christians.  And  if  the  Sultan  is  permitted 
to  go  on,  he  will  kill  a  million  more,  the  rest  will  be 
"  converted,"  and  then  he  will  call  the  attention  of 
the  European  powers  to  this  fact,  and  say,  "  See  here, 
you  ask  me  to  reform  Armenia ;  Armenia  is  reformed. 
There  is  no  Armenia;  there  are  no  Armenians;  the 
people  in  that  part  of  my  empire  are  Mohammedans, 
and  they  are  satisfied  with  my  government.  What  do 
you  want  from  me  ?  What  right  have  you  to  inter- 
fere with  my  country  and  religion  ? "  That  is  his 
plan.  When  the  Berlin  Congress  was  held,  the  Ar- 
menians were  the  majority  in  their  own  country,  and 
the  Congress  decided  on  reforms  for  it;  the  Sultan 
promised  them,  with  the  full  intention  of  depopulating 


THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  ATHOCITIES.  220 

and  converting  it,  and  then  tolling  the  powers  there 
was  no  need  of  reform  there,  lie  is  doing  this  now 
incessantly,  and  as  remorselessly  as  a  fiend. 

FOURTH  CAUSE. 

The  Armenians  are  rich  and  educated,  and  the 
Mohammedans  are  poor  and  ignorant.  The  Turks 
have  never  cared  for  money  or  education.  They  have 
always  said,  ''  Let  the  Christians  make  the  money, 
and  we  will  take  it  from  them  whenever  we  choose. 
We  will  be  the  rulers,  the  soldiers,  the  police ;  we  will 
have  the  sword  in  our  hands.  Then  their  property, 
and  their  women  too,  will  be  ours  at  will,  and  we  can 
force  them  to  become  Mohammedans. '^  Such  being 
their  reasoning,  they  took  good  care  of  their  swords 
and  their  guns,  which  were  furnished  to  them  from 
Europe  and  the  United  States.  The  Christian  Ar- 
menians believing  that  the  great  Christian  powers 
w^ould  never  permit  the  Turks  to  wreak  their  murder- 
ous and  shameful  will  on  them,  did  not  risk  the  ven- 
geance of  the  Turks  by  secretly  buying  weapons,  nor 
train  themselves  in  the  use  of  arms.  They  trained 
their  minds,  got  education,  traveled  in  Europe  and 
this  United  States,  enlightened  themselves  in  every 
way  they  could ;  they  sharpened  their  intellects  rather 
than  their  swords.  They  learned  to  make  money  also ; 
they  established  all  the  business  houses  in  Turkey; 
all  the  Turks  that  get  employment  in  the  cities  get  it 
from  the  Armenian  merchants.  As  far  as  Turkey  has 
any  finances,  they  are  in  the  hands  of  Armenians.     Go 


230  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Avhere  yon  will  in  Tnrkey,  seaboard  or  interior,  all  the 
money  and  education  belong  to  the  Armenians,  pov- 
erty and  ignorance  are  the  portion  of  the  Turks. 
Ninety  per  cent,  of  the  Armenians  know  how  to  read 
and  write,  while  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  Turks  do  not. 
Sixty  per  cent,  of  the  Mohammedan  property  has 
been  sold  to  the  Christian  Armenians  within  twenty 
years.  When  I  was  in  Armenia,  the  Mohammedans 
were  always  selling  and  the  Christians  always  buying. 
One  day  a  Turk  was  going  to  sell  his  field  to  an  Armen- 
ian, and  they  w^ent  to  the  government  office  to  make 
the  transfer.  The  officer  in  charge  said  he  could  not 
transfer  the  property  of  a  Mohammedan  to  a  Chris- 
tian. This  Avas  something  new.  "  Why  is  that  ?  " 
they  asked.  "  The  governor  forbids  it,"  said  the  of- 
ficer, "  he  told  me  that  hereafter  it  should  not  be 
done."  Finally  both  went  to  the  governor  and  asked 
him  why  he  forbade  it.  The  governor  replied,  ^'  Of 
late  the  Armenians  have  bought  up  the  fields  of  the 
Mohammedans,  till  they  own  the  greater  part  of  them; 
if  we  let  them  go  on  they  will  own  everything,  and  the 
Mohammedans  will  be  left  without  property.  There- 
fore I  forbid  it;  no  Mohammedan  shall  hereafter  sell 
any  property  to  a  Christian."  He  told  the  Turk  he 
might  sell  his  field  to  another  Mohammedan,  but  not 
to  a  Christian.  "  All  right,"  said  the  Turk,  ''  I  will 
sell  it  to  you,  then,  at  the  same  price,  or  maybe  a  little 
less;  will  you  buy  it  ?  I  need  the  money  to  support 
my  family."  '^  I  cannot  buy  it,"  said  the  governor;  "I 
have  no  money."     "  I  know  that,"  replied  the  Turk; 


THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  ATROCITIES.  2.31 

"  and  not  only  you,  but  all  the  other  Mohammedans 
have  no  money  either.  They  are  all  poor.  I  cannot 
find  any  Turk  who  has  the  money  to  buy  my  field,  and 
I  need  money,  and  I  have  to  sell  it  to  that  Christian." 
Finally  the  governor  was  forced  to  give  the  permission, 
and  the  Armenian  bought  the  field.  This  is  only  one 
case,  but  it  is  typical.  There  are  thousands  of  just 
such.  And  this  is  another  cause  which  aroused  the 
jealousy  of  the  Sultan  and  his  subordinates  to  order 
the  massacre  of  the  Armenians,  and  the  seizure  of 
their  property. 

I  often  hear  it  said  in  this  country,  "  Let  us  help 
the  poor  Armenians " ;  and  I  feel  very  indignant. 
Poor  Armenians  !  There  are  poor  among  the  Ar- 
menians, as  among  all  nations;  but  the  Armenians  as 
a  body  are  not  poor.  They  are  the  riclu^t  pc-.plc  in 
Turkey.  That  is  one  reason  why  they  are  plundered 
and  killed.  I  do  not  want  the  American  people  to 
help  the  Armenians  as  a  poor,  ignorant,  miserable  peo- 
ple, but  because  they  deserve  help  as  a  rich,  noble, 
Christian  nation  being  rooted  out  by  plunder  and 
murder,  for  the  benefit  of,  and  by  means  of  a  horde  of 
savages.     I  will  illustrate  by  a  very  little  story. 

When  Alexander  the  Great  reached  the  moun- 
tains of  Afghanistan  on  his  way  to  India,"  the  Afghan 
king  refused  to  let  him  pass  through  his  country. 
After  a  great  battle,  and  the  slaughter  of  thousands 
on  both  sides,  Alexander  was  victorious.  The  king 
himself  was  captured,  and  brought  before  Alexander, 
\vho  said  to  him,  *'  You  are  my  captive;  how  shall  I 


282  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

treat  you  ? ''  "  As  a  king/'  said  the  prisoner.  Alex- 
ander was  charmed  with  the  dignity  of  the  answer,  and 
replied,  "  You  shall  be  treated  as  one,  and  a  brave  one. 
I  leave  you  on  your  throne;  but  permit  me  to  pass  on 
to  India."  So  the  king  kept  his  royalty  as  before, 
and  Alexander  continued  his  conquests. 

Such  is  the  Armenian  question.  They  are  a  noble 
people,  an  enterprising  people,  but  captives  in  the 
hands  of  the  Turks.  But  the  Turks  have  not  the  mag- 
nanimity of  Alexander.  We  need  a  nation  which  does 
have  it,  to  say  to  the  Armenians,  "  Remain  where  you 
are,  in  your  ancient  home,  and  rule  there;  govern 
yourselves  freely  as  a  Christian  nation.  You  have 
fought  centuries  after  centuries  for  home  and  honor, 
and  now  we  come  to  your  help,  to  establish  you  on  the 
old  Armenian  throne."  Do  not  help  the  Armenians 
merely  as  a  poor  people,  but  help  them  because  they 
were  rich,  and  now  they  are  stripped  and  poor,  with- 
out fault  of  their  own,  from  hate  of  their  (and  your) 
religion,  and  envy  of  their  superiority. 

FIFTH  CAUSE. 

This  is  perhaps  the  greatest  of  all.  It  is  the  Amer- 
ican missionary  work  in  Armenia.  It  was  in  1831 
that  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  estab- 
lished the  first  Protestant  mission  there.  Their  pur- 
pose was  to  send  missionaries,  not  simply  to  the  Ar- 
menians, but  to  all  classes  and  sects  in  Turkey.  Those 
pioneer  American  missionaries  were  among  the  noblest 
of  men,  and  greatest  of  teachers,  preachers,  and  or- 


THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  ATROCITIES.  233 

ganizers.  T  will  name  a  few:  Dr.  Ooo<lell,  Dr. 
Dwight,  Dr.  SchafHer,  Dr.  Cyrus  Hamlin,  founder 
of  Robert  College,  living  now  at  I^xington,  Mass.,  86 
years  old,  one  of  the  greatest  missionaries  ever  bom, 
Dr.  H.  Van  Lennep,  another  great  missionary,  greatly 
beloved  by  the  Armenians.  Books  could  be  written 
about  these  Christian  chiefs,  towhom,and  to  the  Amer- 
ican people  who  sent  them,  we  Armenians  are  grate- 
ful. When  Dr.  Van  Lennep  died  at  Great  Barring- 
ton,  Mass.,  about  six  years  ago,  the  author  was  raising 
money  here  to  build  a  church  in  Armenia,  as  already 
told.  He  went  to  condole  with  Mrs.  Van  Lennep, 
and  told  her  not  to  put  any  monument  over  the  doctor's 
grave.  He  would  see  the  other  Armenians,  and  as  a 
grateful  people  they  would  erect  him  a  beautiful  one. 
He  kept  his  word,  and  his  faith  was  justified;  they 
raised  the  funds  and  put  up  the  monument.  Tt 
stands  in  the  cemetery  at  Great  Barrington,  with  the 
following  inscription : — 

Henry  John  Van  Lennep,  D.D. 
1815  —  1889. 
For  Thirty  Years  Missionary  in  Turkey. 
This  monument  is  erected  by  his  Armenian  friends  in  grate- 
ful appreciation  of  his   heroic  virtues,  and  endearing  services 
rendered  to  their  people. 

The  beloved  Missionary 
Van  Lennep. 

When  the  noble  missionaries  went  to  Turkey,  the 
Turks  hated  them,  the  Jews  hated  them,  the  Greeks 
hated  them,  and  these  three  peoples  hate  them  still. 


034  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

But  tlie  Armenians  welcomed  them;  they  loved  and 
esteemed  them,  and  they  love  and  esteem  them  more 
than  ever  now.  The  question  is  often  asked  ''  Are 
not  the  Armenians  a  Christian  people  ?  Then  why 
did  the  missionaries  go  there  ? "  Yes,  they  are;  but 
still  they  needed  the  missionaries,  and  need  them  now 
more  than  ever.  Why  ?  Well,  for  two  reasons. 
Their  churches  and  schools  having  been  destroyed  by 
the  long  oppression  by  the  Turks,  they  needed  help 
from  a  sister  Christian  church  to  help  them  educate 
themselves,  and  build  up  churches,  schools,  and  col- 
leges, benevolent  institutions,  printing  offices.  The 
missionaries  have  done  that  great  work  in  Armenia, 
but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  some  of  their  creations  have 
been  destroyed  by  the  Turks  during  the  recent  atroci- 
ties. 

The  second  reason  is  that  the  Armenian  church 
stood  in  great  need  of  reformation.  I  have  already 
explained  in  this  book  (see  "  The  Armenian  Church  ") 
how  in  the  last  desperate  struggle  for  national  exis- 
tence, a  part  of  the  people  reluctantly  accepted  help 
from  the  Pope  of  Kome,  at  the  price  of  uniting  with 
the  Roman  church,  and  using  its  rituals,  images,  etc. 
Hence,  in  many  of  the  Armenian  churches  there  was 
no  pure  gospel  preaching;  rituals  were  the  leading  ele- 
ment of  the  services.  There  was  therefore  great  need 
that  such  preaching  should  be  introduced ;  the  mission- 
aries did  so,  and  the  Armenian  church  has  been  greatly 
reformed.  My  purpose  here  is  not  to  write  a  church 
history,  nor  to  give  an  account  of  missionary  work  in 


THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  ATROCITIES.  235 

Turkey.     I  mention  it  incidentally  as  a  chief  cause  of 
the  atrocities. 

The  missionaries  have  trained  both  boys  and  girls 
in  their  schools  for  sixty-five  years  now;  many  thou- 
sands of  them.  The  Turks  have  not  been  permitted 
to  go  to  them,  the  Greeks  are  too  proud  to  send  their 
children,  but  the  Armenians  were  hungry  for  educa- 
tion, especially  for  an  American  education.  The 
new-born  baby  of  the  time  when  the  missionaries  ar- 
rived is  now  sixty-five  years  old,  with  his  American 
education,  which  has  wonderfully  elevated  the  Ar- 
menians, and  turned  Armenia  almost  into  a  second 
America,  educationally.  The  American  colleges  in 
different  parts  of  Turkey  are  great  centers  of  light; 
about  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  students  and  the  leading 
native  professors  and  teachers  are  Armenians.  I  will 
mention  a  few:  Robert  College  and  the  Woman's 
College  in  Constantinople;  the  Ladies'  Seminary  in 
Smyrnia;  Anatolia  College,  the  Ladies'  Seminary, 
and  the  Theological  Seminary  in  Marsovan;  the 
writer's  pastorate.  Central  Turkey  College  and  the 
Ladies'  College  at  Aintab,  Euphrates  College  (first 
called  Armenia  College,  but  the  name  is  forbidden  by 
the  Turks,  as  encouraging  Armenian  independence) 
and  the  Ladies'  Department  at  Harpoot;  the  Academy 
and  the  Theological  Seminary  at  ^farash,  where  I 
studied  three  years;  the  colleges  both  for  girls  and 
boys  at  Beirut;  and  many  high  schools  and  primary 
schools  throughout  Armenia.  The  American  Bible 
House  is  a  great  depot  of  Christian  literature.     These 


236  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

are  all  American  Christian  institutions,  and  nine-tentlis 
of  their  inmates  are  Armenians. 

The  reader  can  clearly  see  how  the  Armenians 
have  become  a  wholly  new  race ;  they  have  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  American  education,  and  it  has  revolution- 
ized the  nation.  It  has  elevated,  refined,  and  pros- 
pered them.  This  great  improvement  among  the  Ar- 
menians aroused  the  jealousy  of  the  Sultan  and  his 
underlings.  He  first  began  to  close  the  schools;  then 
to  imprison  the  native  Armenian  teachers  and  preach- 
ers; then  to  kill  the  Armenians  and  destroy  the  mission-* 
ary  institutions,  that  no  Armenian  may  be  left  to  go 
to  any  American  school,  and  that  if  any  escapes,  there 
may  be  no  American  school  to  receive  him.  I  con- 
sider this  missionary  education  the  very  greatest  cause 
for  the  atrocities,  and  the  Armenian  bishops  agree 
with  me.  Here  is  what  the  Armenian  bishop  of  Oorf  a 
(Edessa),  where  about  8,000  Armenians  we^e  mas- 
sacred, has  to  say : 

TO  THE  AMERICANS. 

March  12,  1896. 

"  We  have  been  strenuously  opposed  to  your  mis- 
sion work  among  us,  but  these  bloody  days  have  proven 
that  some  of  our  Protestant  brothers  have  been  staunch 
defenders  of  our  honor  and  faith.  You  at  least  know 
that  our  crime,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Turk,  has  been  that 
we  have  adopted  the  civilization  you  commended. 
Behold  the  missions  and  schools  which  you  planted 
among  us,  and  which  cost  millions  of  dollars,  and  hun- 
dreds of  precious  lives,  now  in  ruins.     The  Turk  is 


THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  ATROCITIES.  237 

planning  to  rid  himself  of  missionaries  and  teachers  by 
leaving  them  nobody  to  labor  among." 

It  is  very  significant  that  wherever  there  was  a  mis- 
sionary institution,  and  especially  a  missionary  Theo- 
logical Seminary  to  train  Armenian  ministers,  there 
has  been  the  greatest  atrocity.  This  shows  how  the 
Sultan  hates  Americans,  and  American  education. 
There  are  nearly  two  hundred  American  male  and  fe- 
male missionaries  in  Turkey.  They  are  in  great  dan- 
ger. The  Turks  have  determined  to  kill  them,  and 
the  Sultan  can  no  longer  control  them,  for  he  gave  the 
order  and  put  the  sword  into  their  hands.  The  Kurds 
and  the  Turks  say,  "  The  missionaries  have  better 
things  than  the  Armenians  had.  We  killed  the  Ar- 
menians and  got  their  valuables,  and  we  enjoy  them. 
We  are  richer  now,  and  we  did  not  work  for  it ;  we  did 
not  waste  time  in  hard  labor;  the  only  thing  we  had  to 
do  was  to  obey  the  Sultan  and  kill  the  Armenians  and 
get  their  property.  Why  not  kill  the  Americans  and 
get  richer  ? "  Reader,  keep  in  your  mind  that  the 
Turks  will  kill  the  missionaries  also.  The  horrible 
time  is  coming,  in  spite  of  what  your  minister  to  Tur- 
key says,  and  partly  because  he  believes  Turkish  lies, 
and  says  there  was  no  need  of  sending  missionaries 
there. 

Another  point  worthy  of  consideration  is  this: 
Russia  and  Turkey  made  an  alliance.  Russia  is  as 
much  opposed  to  the  missionaries  as  Turkey  is,  and  per- 
haps the  Czar  is  secretly  encouraging  the  Sultan  to  get 
rid  of  them.     Undoubtedly  Russia  is  trying  to  get  rid 


238  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

of  Protestant  influence  in  Turkey,  and  therefore  sac- 
rifices the  old  Protestant  Armenian  nation  to  Turkey. 
In  my  belief,  the  time  is  coming  when  the  Protestant 
nations  will  unite  and  protest  practically  against  the 
outrages  of  Turkey  and  Russia.  They  have  no  right 
to  persecute  Turks  or  Russians,  but  they  have  a  perfect 
right  to  protect  an  old  Protestant  church  and  the 
American  missionaries.  Xo  matter  how  much  it  costs, 
it  pays  to  protect  them,  and,  pay  or  no  pay,  it  is  the 
duty  of  America  and  England  to  unite  and  protect 
them.  And  if  England  and  America  should  really 
unite,  Turkey  and  Russia  will  yield.  I  do  not  at 
all  concur  with  Americans  who  favor  Russia  and  hate 
England.  Lord  Salisbury  is  too  timid  to  do  it,  but 
Lord  Salisbury  is  not  England.  The  English  people 
are  a  noble  people,  and  if  the  American  noble  people 
unite  with  them,  they  can  accomplish  a  great  work 
for  God  and  humanity,  for  peace  and  liberty,  for  free- 
dom and  happiness  in  Armenia. 

As  far  as  I  can  judge,  the  foregoing  are  the  causes 
of  the  atrocities  in  Armenia.  Perhaps  there  may  be 
other  minor  ones,  but  they  are  not  worthy  of  discus- 
sion. 


•   »  » 

»   »     » 
a*    •       * 


t    •      I 
«   «    • 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA. 

THE  BEGINNING. 

Turkish  atrocities  in  Armenia  arc  no  new  thing; 
they  have  gone  on  for  centuries,  and  left  but  a  fraction 
of  the  population  it  once  had.  But  let  us  disregard 
old  history,  and  come  to  the  subject  of  to-day.  Prac- 
tically that  begins  with  Hamid  II,  the  present  Sultan. 
He  began  his  persecutions  nearly  twenty  years  ago,  but 
on  a  small  scale.  He  has  continually  devised  new  meth- 
ods of  getting  rid  of  the  Armenians  without  responsi- 
bility ;  finally  he  hit  on  the  plan  of  arming  the  Kurds 
and  letting  them  loose  with  full  power  to  do  their 
worst.  When  I  was  in  Constantinople  he  summoned 
the  Kurdish  chiefs,  hundreds  of  them  —  I  have  seen 
them  with  my  own  eyes  —  entertained  them  in  the 
palace,  armed  them  with  modern  rifles,  and  sent  them 
to  Armenia  on  their  mission.  The  pretense  under 
which  he  did  it  was  worthy  of  him:  he  called  them 
the  "  Hamidieh  Cavalry,"  and  pretended  that  they 
were  a  sort  of  mounted  police,  who  were  to  keep  order 
and  protect  the  Armenians.  This  was  exactly  as 
though  a  regiment  of  red  Indians  should  be  anned  and 
sent  to  Oregon  to  protect  the  inhabitants,  and  called, 
say,  the  Presidential  Guard,  and  the  Armenians  knew 

well  what  they  were  for.     But  the  European  travel- 

(239) 


240  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

ers  and  newspaper  correspondents  took  it  all  seriously, 
and  talked  of  his  ^'  civilizing  the  Kurds,"  etc.  Now 
these  were  only  the  chi^s;  each  chief  had  a  large  fol- 
lowing of  tribesmen,  so  that  about  30,000  Kurds  in 
all  were  given  arms  and  ordered  to  go  to  work  extermi- 
nating the  Armenians.  This  work  began  in  1891,  but 
on  a  small  scale,  and  in  a  very  crafty  way,  so  that  it 
should  not  ha,ve  the  appearance  of  a  premeditated 
massacre ;  then  it  was  stopped  till  about  sixteen  months 
ago,  when  they  were  encouraged  to  begin  again,  pub- 
licly, and  with  full  swing.  It  was  decided  to  begin 
in  Sassoun,  a  district  far  from  the  sea,  with  no  roads 
and  a  sparse  population ;  if  successful  in  escaping  report 
there,  he  could  carry  out  the  massacre  through  all 
Armenia,  for  Avhich  "  reforms  "  were  asked  and  prom- 
ished.  He  ordered  Zekii  Pasha  to  have  his  soldiers 
ready,  and  meantime  to  have  the  "  Ilamidieh  Cav- 
alry "  the  Kurdish  chiefs  and  tribesmen,  ready  to  at- 
tack and  kill  all  the  Armenians  in  Sassoun.  This 
city  lies  between  Moosh  and  Bitlis,  in  a  mountainous 
country,  and  the  Sassounites  are  a  brave  people,  as 
much  so  as  the  Zeitoonlis  are.  The  district  had  about 
sixty  villages  and  towns,  and  about  20,000  people 
sixteen  months  ago,  but  it  has  none  now.  The  regular 
soldiers  and  the  armed  Kurds  surrounded  the  dis- 
trict from  all  sides,  and  in  about  a  month  had  slaugh- 
tered the  entire  population.  It  was  reported  that 
Zekii  Pasha  carried  on  his  breast  an  order  from  the 
Sultan  as  follows:  "Whoever  spares  man,  woman, 
or  child  is  disloyal."       After  he  had  finished  his  task. 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     241 

he  received  great  rewards  from  the  Sultan,  and  is  now 
one  of  his  most  esteemed  commanders. 

Zekii  Pasha  is  said  to  have  had  40,000  Kurds  and 
regular  soldiers  under  his  command  when  he  began 
the  massacre.  The  people  of  Sassoun,  knowing  that 
they  were  doomed,  fought  desperately.  They  re- 
pulsed the  Kurds  several  times,  and  killed  many  of 
them;  but  finally  the  regular  soldiers  took  part,  pre- 
tending to  come  in  aid  of  the  Armenians,  and  overbore 
them,  killing  all  without  quarter.  The  Sultan's  order 
was  to  spare  neither  man,  woman,  nor  child;  but  as 
the  men  met  the  enemy  first,  they  were  killed  first 
When  the  women's  turn  came,  the  Turks  and  Kurds 
abused  all  they  could  get  hold  of,  and  then  told  them 
that  if  they  would  deny  Christ  and  accept  Mohammed 
and  become  their  wives,  they  should  live;  but  if  they 
refused,  every  one  of  them,  according  to  the  Sultan's 
order,  should  be  killed.  "  Now,"  said  they,  "  choose 
between  Islam  and.  death."  These  noble  Armenian 
Christian  women  said : —  "  We  are  Christians,  we  can 
never  deny  Christ.  Jesus  Christ  is  our  Saviour.  He 
came  down  from  Heaven  and  died  on  the  cross  for  us. 
For  that  dying  and  loving  Christ  we  are  Christians; 
we  are  ready  to  die  for  Him  who  died  for  us."  And 
they  added  further,  "  We  are  no  better  than  our  hus- 
bands were;  you  killed  them,  kill  us  too."  Then  the 
horrible  butchery  began  on  those  defenseless  women. 
Thousands  of  them  were  slaughtered,  and  thousands 
ran  to  different  churches,  hoping  that  perhaps  they 
might  find  protection  in  some  way  in  those  holy  walls, 


242  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

or  hopiug  that  God  in  liis  great  mercy  might  shelter 
them.  But  the  ferocious  Kurds  and  Turkish  soldiers 
pursued  them,  sword  in  hand,  violated  them,  even  in 
the  churches,  and  cut  their  throats  there  until  the 
floors  were  streaming  with  blood.  Then  they  poured 
kerosene  on  the  buildings  and  burned  them. 

They  went  to  one  village  and  killed  every  man; 
the  women  of  course,  knowing  their  fate  was  soon  to 
be  worse  than  their  husbands'.  One  of  the  leading 
women,  named  Shaheg,  perceiving  that  the  Turks  and 
Kurds  were  getting  ready  to  seize  and  ravish  them, 
called  the  other  women  and  said,  ''  Sisters,  our  hus- 
bands are  killed,  and  you  know  what  is  in  store  for 
us  and  our  children.  Don't  let  us  fall  into  the  hands 
of  these  savage  beasts;  we  have  to  die  anyway,  and 
can  die  easier,  and  without  being  defiled  first,  and  per- 
haps tortured.  Let  us  go  to  the  precipice  and  jump 
off."  So  saying,  she  took  her  baby  on  her  arm,  ran 
to  the  rock,  and  threw  herself  over;  the  others  fol- 
lowed her,  and  thus  all  were  killed.  The  Turks  cap- 
tured many  boys  and  girls,  six,  or  eight,  or  ten  years  of 
age,  held  them  by  an  arm  or  foot,  and  hacked  them  to 
pieces  wdth  their  swords.  Sometimes  they  stood  the 
boys  in  a  row  and  shot  them,  to  see  how  many  could 
be  killed  by  a  single  bullet.  They  wrenched  babies 
from  their  mothers'  arms,  cut  their  throats  while  the 
mothers  shrieked  and  pleaded,  and  boiling  them  in 
kettles,  forced  the  mothers  to  eat  the  flesh.  They  cut 
open  women  about  to  become  mothers,  tore  out  the 
unborn  babes,  and  marched  triumphantly  with  the 


THE  TURKISH  ATU0C1T1K8  IN  ARMENIA.      243 

ghastly  trophies  on  their  spears  —  something  ahnost 
surpassing  the  savagery  of  the  Apache  Indian.  Even 
their  worst  horrors  they  made  worse  yet  by  the  way 
they  did  them;  they  took  a  gloating  delight  in  doubling 
the  cruelty  or  the  shame  by  making  it  torture  others 
too.  The  husband  was  forced  to  look  on  while  his 
wife  was  violated,  and  she  in  turn  while  he  was  nm- 
tilated,  tortured,  and  murdered;  the  father  while  his 
daughters,  even  little  girls  of  ten  or  twelve,  were  de- 
flowered and  their  throats  cut,  the  son  while  his  pa- 
rents had  every  form  of  shame  and  torture  inflicted 
on  them,  and  were  killed  before  him,  or  saw  him  killed 
first.  They  tortured  their  victims  like  Indians  or 
Inquisitors,  in  every  fashion  of  lingering  death  and 
torment  that  makes  the  heart  sicken  and  the  blood 
run  cold  to  read  of.  Crucifying  head  downward, 
and  pouring  boiling  water  or  ice-cold  water  on  them, 
leaving  them  so  till  death  came;  flaying  alive;  cutting 
off  arms,  feet,  nose,  ears,  and  other  members,  and 
leaving  them  to  die;  thrusting  red-hot  wires  into  and 
through  their  bodies.  They  pulled  out  the  eyes  of 
several  Christian  pastors,  said,  "  Xow  dance  for 
us,"  poured  kerosene  on  them  and  burned  them  to 
death.  They  put  a  Bible  and  a  cross  before  others,  and 
ordered  them  to  first  spit  and  then  trample  on  both, 
and  deny  Christ;  on  their  refusal  they  were  butchered. 
The  handsomest  girls  and  young  matrons  were  not 
murdered,  but  worse;  each  one  was  kept  as  a  spoil  of 
some  Turk  or  Kurd,  who  carried  her  to  his  house,  and 
made  a  slave  and  concubine  of  her.     Many  hundreds 


244  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

of  them  are  there  to  this  day,  enduring  the  awful  fate 
of  having  been  dragged  from  happy  and  virtuous 
homes,  seen  their  husbands,  or  parents,  or  brothers,  or 
all  of  them  horribly  murdered,  and  passing  their  lives 
each  in  doing  menial  labor  and  serving  the  lust  of  a 
brutal  master,  and  all  the  other  men  he  lets  have  their 
will  of  her,  without  hope,  or  comfort,  or  decency,  and 
a  long  life  of  shame  and  misery  yet  to  look  forward 
to.  This  is  another  specimen  of  Mohammedan  purity, 
and  it  all  happens  because  the  Armenians  are  Chris- 
tians. If  my  readers  think  I  am  exaggerating,  I  re- 
fer them  to  the  consular  reports.  All  this  was  done 
by  the  barbarians  con  amore,  with  relish  and  delight. 
They  boasted  of  it,  they  plumed  themselves  on  it,  they 
praised  the  Sultan  for  ordering  them  to  do  it,  and  he 
praised  them  for  doing  it,  and  decorated  all  the  of- 
ficers. 

The  condition  of  those  who  were  murdered  out- 
right was  much  better  than  that  of  those  who  were  im- 
prisoned and  tortured.  The  following  was  written 
by  an  Armenian  from  one  of  the  prisons: — 

"  Our  condition  in  prison  passes  description.  Only' 
he  who  sees  can  understand  it.  Most  of  the  occupants 
of  every  room  are  Christians,  but  many  are  Moslems. 
Life  would  be  a  shade  more  tolerable  if  the  subject 
race  were  not  compelled  thus  to  associate  with  the  dom- 
inant race,  whose  temper,  tastes,  and  habits  are  so 
different.  Into  one  small  room  twenty  persons  are 
crowded.  Except  for  a  few  Moslems,  not  a  single  per- 
son has  room  enough  on  the  bare  floor  to  stretch  out 
and  lie  down.     For  fully  sixteen  hours  in  the  night, 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      245 

the  doors  of  the  rooms  are  all  locked.  In  one  of  these 
small  rooms,  sometimes  twenty  cigarettes  are  smoking 
at  once.  Out  of  the  small  amount  of  food  which 
reaches  us,  instead  of  eating  themselves,  the  Chris- 
tians are  obliged  to  feed  the  ^loslems  confined  there. 
Moslem  oppression  continues,  even  here;  it  is  a  t/ranny 
within  a  tyranny.  In  every  room  there  are  a  few 
Aghas  or  principal  Moslems,  and  every  Christian  must 
contribute  money  to  their  lordships.  Those  who  with- 
hold such  contributions  are  not  allowed  to  sit  down. 

"  Among  the  inmates  of  the  prison  are  twenty  or 
thirty  rowdies  and  bullies,  under  whom  the  Chris- 
tians must  serve  as  menial  slaves.  There  is  no  respect, 
no  pity.  The  horrible  blasphemies  cannot  be  de- 
scribed. There  is  no  book,  no  Bible,  no  work,  no 
sleep.  Every  man  is  covered  with  the  swarming  ver- 
min with  which  the  unwashed  rooms  of  the  prison 
teem.  To  clean  ourselves  is  impossible.  Now  and 
then  the  rumor  sweeps  through  the  prison  that  we  are 
all  to  be  put  to  death,  and  all  our  hearts  melt  like 
water. 

"  The  terrible  darkness  of  the  night,  the  curses 
and  stripes  inflicted  from  time  to  time,  cause  us  to  live 
in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  It  is  a  living 
grave,  a  visible  hell,  a  world  without  God.  Out  of  this 
throng  of  prisoners  more  than  a  hundred  are  in  daily 
suffering  from  the  gnawing  of  hunger,  and  from  na- 
kedness, but  there  is  no  one  to  pity.  Many  praying 
men  are  tempted  to  cease  praying,  many  are  tempted 
to  change  over  to  the  ^loslem  faith.  In  truth,  all  of 
us  are  dumb;  what  to  say  we  know  not.  We  are 
w^earied  of  the  long  silence;  our  eyes  are  strained 
with  watching,  our  bones  ache,  our  prayers  are  de- 
spised by  the  revilers.  Xight  is  not  night,  and  day  is 
not  day.  Our  grief  is  our  food,  our  sleep  is  weeping, 
for  ho\v  long  a  time  must  we  cry  ?     0  Lord,  wilt 


246  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Thou  hide  Thyself  forever  ?  How  long  will  Thy 
anger  burn  like  fire  ?  And  yet  some  of  us  are  saying: 
*  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him.' 

"  When  will  the  Christian  statesmen  and  philan- 
thropists  of  the  world  find  a  way  to  cleanse  these  Au- 
gean stables  all  over  Turkey  ?  Long  centuries  cry  out 
for  redress.  Within  a  month  the  following  incidents 
have  occurred:  A  Christian  confined  in  this  prison 
was  ordered  to  receive  400  stripes.  After  300  had 
been  inflicted  he  cried  out  that  he  could  endure  no 
more  or  he  must  die.  An  officer  then  presented  to 
him  a  paper  with  the  names  of  fifty  Christians  in  the 
city  who  were  accused  therein  of  sedition.  In  his 
great  agony  he  signed  it,  and  this  is  to  be  used  to  in- 
criminate others,  wholly  regardless  of  their  guilt  or 
innocence.  The  other  victim  of  unendurable  stripes 
was  an  old  man.  When  he  could  endure  no  more  of 
this  inhuman  treatment,  he  also  was  asked  to  sign  a 
paper  implicating  others  indiscriminately. 

^^  Can  any  one  living  in  a  free  country  for  a  mo- 
ment understand  what  it  is  to  live  under  such  a  gov- 
ernment ?  There  is  a  great  flourish  just  at  present 
over  the  reforms  that  are  being  instituted  in  certain 
parts  of  this  land.  No  resident  of  this  country  can 
have  confidence  in  the  superficial  operations.  What 
will  you  do  with  a  land  where  lying  is  the  simplest  of 
mental  exercises,  and  w^here  no  one  was  ever  known 
to  blush  over  it  if  exposed  ?  " 

I  give  here  the  testimony  of  a  gentleman  from 
Sassoun  who  escaped  the  atrocities.  He  is  an  Ar- 
menian from  Sassoun,  and  my  personal  friend.  I 
quote  this  from  a  little  pamphlet,  entitled  "  Facts 
About  Armenia." 


THE  TUItKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     247 

The  Massacre  of  1894, 

"  The  Armenians  of  Sassoun  were  fully  aware  of 
the  hostile  intention  of  the  government,  but  they  could 
not  imagine  it  to  be  one  of  utter  extermination. 

"  The  Porte  had  prepared  its  plans,  Sassoun  was 
doomed.  The  Kurds  were  to  come  in  much  greater 
number,  the  government  was  to  furnish  them  provision 
and  ammunition,  and  the  regular  army  was  to  second 
them  in  case  of  need. 

*^  The  various  tribes  received  invitations  to  take 
part  in  the  great  expedition,  and  the  chiefs,  with  their 
men,  arrived  one  after  the  other.  The  total  number 
of  the  Kurds  who  took  part  in  the  campaign  may 
be  estimated  at  30,000.  The  Armenians  believed  in 
the  beginning  that  they  had  to  do  only  with  the  Kurds. 
They  found  out  later  that  an  Ottoman  regular  army, 
with  provisions,  rifles,  cannons,  and  kerosene  oil,  was 
standing  at  the  back  of  the  Kurds. 

^'  The  plan  was  to  destroy  first  Shenig,  Semal, 
Guelliegoozan,Aliantz,etc.,and  then  to  proceed  toward 
Dalvorig.  The  Kurds,  notwithstanding  their  im- 
mense number,  proved  to  be  unequal  to  the  task.  The 
Armenians  held  their  own,  and  the  Kurds  got  worsted. 
After  a  two  weeks'  fight  between  Kurd  and  Armenian, 
the  regular  army  entered  into  an  active  campaign. 
Mountain  pieces  began  to  thunder.  The  Armenians, 
having  nearly  exhausted  their  ammunition,  took  to 
flight.  Kurd  and  Turk  pursued  them,  and  massacred 
men,  women,  and  children.  The  houses  were  searched 
and  then  set  on  fire.  From  certain  villages  groups 
of  men,  tax  receipts  in  their  hands,  went  to  the  camp 
and  asked  to  be  protected,  but  were  slaughtered. 

"  A  great  number  of  villages  outside  of  the  Dal- 
vorig district,  which  had  in  no  wise  been  concerned  in 
the  conflicts  of  the  previous  years,  were  also  attacked, 
to  the  unspeakable  horror  of  the  populations.     'J'h6 


248  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

troops  climbed  up  even  the  Mount  Antok,  where  a 
multitude  of  fugitives  had  taken  refuge,  and  mas- 
sacred them.  A  number  of  women  and  girls  were 
taken  to  the  church  of  Guelliegoozan,  and  after  being 
frightfully  abused,  were  tortured  to  death. 

^'  When  the  work  of  destruction  was  nearly  accom- 
plished in  the  other  districts,  some  of  the  Kurdish  ar- 
mies were  set  on  Dalvorig.  The  people  defended 
themselves  against  the  overwhelming  number  of  the 
barbarians,  but  after  four  or  five  days  they  saw  other 
tribes  and  regular  Turkish  troops  marching  on  them 
from  every  side,  and  they  took  to  flight,  but  were  over- 
taken and  massacred.  The  scene  was  most  hor- 
rible. The  enemy  took  a  special  delight  in 
butchering  the  Dalvorig  people.  An  immense 
crowd  of  Turkish  and  Kurdish  soldiery  fell  upon  the 
villages,  busily  searching  the  houses  and  rooting  out 
hidden  treasures,  and  then  setting  fire  to  the  village. 
"While  the  troops  were  so  occupied,  a  number  of  the 
fugitives  fled  Avildly  to  get  out  of  the  district,  and  tried 
to  hide  themselves  in  caves,  between  rocks,  or  among 
bushes.  Three  days  after  the  complete  destruction 
of  Dalvorig  villages,  the  Kurds  and  the  regular  sol- 
diers divided  among  themselves  the  result  of  the  plun- 
der, and  the  Kurds  returned  to  their  own  mountains." 

As  my  use  of  English  is  defective,  I  take  the  lib- 
erty here  of  quoting  from  a  long  letter  by  E.  J.  Dillon 
to  the  Contemporary  Review,  January,  1896. 

Dr.  Dillon  is  an  Englishman  who  was  the  special 
correspondent  of  the  London  "  Daily  Telegraph,"  a 
most  accurate  and  conscientious  reporter,  who  writes 
as  an  eye-witness: 

"  If  a  detailed  description  were  possible  of  the  hor- 
rors which  our  exclusive  attention  to  our  own  mistaken: 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     249 

interests  let  loose  upon  Turkish  Armenians,  tliere  is 
not  a  man  within  the  kingdom  of  CJreat  Britain  whose 
heart-strings  would  not  be  touched  and  thrilled  by  the 
gruesome  Jitories  of  which  it  would  be  composed. 

*'  During  all  those  seventeen  years,  written  law, 
traditional  custom,  the  fundamental  maxims  of  human 
and  divine  justice  were  suspended  in  favor  of  a  ^lo- 
hammedan  saturnalia.  The  Christians,  by  whose 
toil  and  thrift  the  empire  was  held  together,  were  de- 
spoiled, beggared,  chained,  beaten,  and  banished  or 
butchered.  First  their  movable  wealth  was  seized, 
then  their  landed  property  was  confiscated,  next  the  ab- 
solute necessaries  of  life  were  wrested  from  them,  and 
finally  honor,  liberty,  and  life  were  taken  w4th  as  lit- 
tle ado  as  if  these  Christian  men  and  women  were 
wasps  or  mosquitoes.  Thousands  of  Armenians  were 
thrown  into  prison  by  governors  like  Tahsin  Pasha  and 
Bahri  Pasha,  and  tortured  and  terrorized  till  they  de- 
livered up  the  savings  of  a  lifetime,  and  the  support 
of  the  helpless  families,  to  ruffianly  parasites.  Whole 
villages  were  attacked  in  broad  daylight  by  the  Im- 
perial Kurdish  cavalry  without  pretext  or  warn- 
ing, the  male  inhabitants  turned  adrift  or  killed,  and 
their  wives  and  daughters  transformed  into  instru- 
ments to  glut  the  foul  lusts  of  these  bestial  murderers. 
In  a  few  years  the  provinces  were  decimated,  Alogh- 
kerd,  for  instance,  being  almost  entirely  '  purged  ' 
of  Armenians.  Over  20,000  woe-stricken  wretches, 
once  healthy  and  well-to-do,  fled  to  Russia  or  Persia 
in  rags  and  misery,  deformed,  diseased,  or  dying;  on 
the  way  they  were  seized  over  and  over  again  by  the 
soldiers  of  the  Sultan,  who  deprived  them  of  the  little 
money  they  possessed,  nay,  of  the  clothes  they  were 
wearing,  outraged  the  married  women  in  the  pres- 
ence of  their  sons  and  daughters,  deflowered  the  tender 
girls  before  the  eyes  of  their  mothers  and  brothers, 


250  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE.  / 

and  then  drove  them  over  the  frontier  to  starve  and 
die.  Those- who  remained  for  a  time  behind  v^ere  no 
better  off.  Kurdish  brigands  lifted  the  last  cows  and 
goats  of  the  peasants,  carried  away  their  carpets  and 
their  valuables,  raped  their  daughters  and  dishonored 
their  wives.  Turkish  tax-gatherers  followed  these, 
gleaning  what  the  brigands  had  left,  and,  lest  any- 
thing should  escape  their  avarice,  bound  the  men, 
flogged  them  till  their  bodies  were  a  bloody,  mangled 
mass,  cicatrized  the  wounds  with  red-hot  ramrods, 
plucked  out  their  beards  hair  by  hair,  tore  the  flesh 
from  their  limbs  with  pincers,  and  often,  even  then, 
dissatisfied  with  the  financial  results  of  their  exertions, 
hung  the  men  whom  they  had  thus  beggared  and  mal- 
treated from  the  rafters  of  the  room,  and  kept  them 
there  to  witness  with  burning  shame,  impotent  rage, 
and  incipient  madness,  the  dishonoring  of  their  wives 
and  the  deflowering  of  their  daughters,  some  of  whom 
died  miserably  during  the  hellish  outrage. 

"  In  accordance  with  the  plan  of  extermination, 
which  has  been  carried  out  with  such  signal  success 
during  these  long  years  of  Turkish  vigor  and  English 
sluggishness,  all  those  Armenians  who  possessed  mo- 
ney, or  money ^s  worth  were  for  a  time  allowed  to  pur- 
chase immunity  from  prison,  and  from  all  that  prison 
life  in  Asia  Minor  implies.  But  as  soon  as  terror  and 
summary  confiscation  took  the  place  of  slow  and  elab- 
orate extortion,  the  gloomy  dungeons  of  Erzeroum, 
Erzinghan,  Marsovan,  Ilassankaleh,  and  Van  were 
filled,  till  there  was  no  place  to  sit  down,  and  scarcely 
sufficient  standing  room.  And  this  means  more  than 
English  people  can  realize,  or  any  person  believe  who 
has  not  actually  witnessed  it.  It  would  have  been  a 
torture  for  Turkish  troopers  and  Kurdish  brigands, 
but  it  was  worse  than  death  to  the  educated  school- 
masters, missionaries,  priests,  and  physicians  who  were 


THE  TCRKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  AnMENIA.     261 

immured  in  these  noisome  hotbeds  of  infection,  and 
forced  to  sleep  nii»ht  after  night  standing  on  their 
feet,  leaning  against  the  foul,  reeking  corner  of  the 
wall  which  all  the  prisoners  were  compelled  to  use  as 
The  very  worst  class  of  Tartar  and 
Kurdish  criminals  were  turned  in  here  to  make  these 
hell-chambers  more  unbearable  to  the.  Christians. 
And  the  experiment  was  everywhere  successful.  Hu- 
man hatred  and  diabolical  spite,  combined  with  the 
most  disgusting  sights,  and  sounds,  and  stenches,  with 
their  gnawing  hunger  and  their  putrid  food,  their 
parching  thirst  and  the  slimy  water,  fit  only  for  sew- 
ers, rendered  their  agony  maddening.  Yet  these  were 
not  criminals  nor  alleged  criminals,  but  upright  Chris- 
tian men,  who  were  never  even  accused  of  an  infrac- 
tion of  the  law.  No  man  who  has  not  seen  these 
prisons  with  his  own  eyes,  and  heard  these  prisoners 
with  his  own  ears,  can  be  expected  to  conceive,  much 
loss  realize,  the  sufferings  inflicted  and  endured.  The 
loathsome  diseases,  whose  terrible  ravages  were  freely 
displayed;  the  still  more  loathsome  vices,  which  were 
continually  and  openly  practiced;  the  horrible  blas- 
phemies, revolting  obscenities,  and  ribald  jests  which 
alternated  with  cries  of  pain,  songs  of  vice,  and  pray- 
ers to  the  unseen  God,  made  these  prisons,  in  some 
respects,  nearly  as  bad  as  the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta, 
and  in  others  infinitely  worse.  In  one  comer  of  this 
foul  fever-nest  a  man  mi^ht  be  heard  moaning  and 
groaning  with  the  pain  of  a  shattered  arm  or  leg;  in 
another,  a  youth  is  convulsed  with  the  death  spasms 
of  cholera  or  poison;  in  the  center,  a  knot  of  Turks, 
whose  dull  eyes  are  fired  with  bestial  lust,  surround  a 
Christian  boy,  who  pleads  for  mercy  with  heart-har- 
rowing voice  while  the  human  fiends  actually  outrage 
him  to  death. 

"  Into  these  prisons  venerable  old  ministers  of 


252  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

religion  were  dragged  from  tlieir  cliurches,  teachers 
from  tlieir  schools,  missionaries  from  their  meeting- 
houses, merchants,  physicians,  and  peasants  from  their 
firesides.  Those  among  them  who  refused  to  de- 
nounce their  friends,  or  consent  to  some  atrocious 
crime,  were  subjected  to  horrible  agonies.  Many  a 
one,  for  instance,  was  put  into  a  sentry-box  bristling 
with  sharp  spikes,  and  forced  to  stand  there  motionless, 
without  food  or  drink,  for  twenty-four  and  even  thir- 
ty-six hours,  was  revived  with  stripes  whenever  he  fell 
fainting  to  the  prickly  iloor,  and  was  carried  out  un- 
conscious at  the  end.  It  was  thus  that  hundreds  of 
Armenian  Christians,  whose  names  and  histories  are 
on  record,  suffered  for  refusing  to  sign  addresses  to 
the  Sultan  accusing  their  neighbors  and  relatives  of 
high  treason.  It  was  thus  that  Azo  was  treated  by 
his  judges,  the  Turkish  officials,  Talib  Eifendi,  Cap- 
tain Reshid,  and  Captain  Hadji  Fehim  Agha,  for  de- 
clining to  swear  away  the  lives  of  the  best  men  of  his 
village.  A  whole  night  was  spent  in  torturing  him. 
He  Avas  first  bastinadoed  in  a  room  close  to  which  his 
female  relatives  and  friends  were  shut  up  so  that  they 
could  hear  his  cries.  Then  he  was  stripped  naked, 
two  poles  extending  from  his  armpits  to  his  feet  were 
placed  on  each  side  of  his  body  and  tied  tightly.  His 
arms  were  next  stretched  out  horizontally  and  poles 
.  arranged  to  support  his  hands.  This  living  cross  was 
then  bound  to  a  pillar,  and  the  flogging  began.  The 
whips  left  livid  traces  behind.  The  wretched  man 
was  unable  to  make  the  slightest  movement  to  ease  his 
pain.  His  features  alone,  hideously  distorted,  re- 
vealed the  anguish  he  endured.  The  louder  he  cried, 
the  more  heavily  fell  the  whip.  Over  and  over  again 
he  entreated  his  tormentors  to  put  him  out  of  pain, 
saying,  ^  If  you  want  my  death,  kill  me  with  a  bullet, 
but  for  God's  sake  don't  torture  me  like  this  !  '    His 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      253 

head  alone  being  free,  he  at  last,  maddened  by  ex- 
cruciating pain,  endeavored  to  dash  out  his  brains 
against  the  pillar,  hoping  in  this  way  to  end  his  agony. 
But  this  consummation  was  hindered  by  the  police. 
They  questioned  him  again;  but  in  spite  of  his  con- 
dition, Azo  replied  as  before:  *  I  cannot  defile  my 
soul  with  the  blood  of  innocent  people.  I  am  a  Chris- 
tion.'  Enraged  at  this  obstinacy,  Talib  Effendi,  the 
Turkish  official,  ordered  the  application  of  other  and 
more  effective  tortures.  Pincers  were  fetched  to 
pull  out  his  teeth,  but,  Azo  remaining  firm,  this 
method  was  not  long  persisted  in.  Then  Talib  com- 
manded his  servants  to  pluck  out  the  prisoner's  mous- 
tachios  by  the  roots,  one  hair  at  a  time.  This  order 
the  gendarmes  executed,  with  roars  of  infernal  laugh- 
ter. But  this  treatment  proving  equally  ineffectual, 
Talib  instructed  the  men  to  cauterize  the  unfortunate 
victim's  body.  A  spit  was  heated  in  the  fire.  Azo's 
arms  were  freed  from  their  supports,  and  two  brawny 
policemen  approached,  one  on  each  side  and  seized 
him.  Meanwhile  another  gendarme  held  to  the  mid- 
dle of  the  wretched  man's  hands  the  glowing  spit^ 
While  his  flesh  was  thus  burning,  the  victim  shouted 
out  in  agony,  ^  For  the  love  of  God  kill  me  at  once  !  ' 

"  Then  the  executioners,  removing  the  red-hot 
spit  from  his  hands,  applied  it  to  his  breast,  then  to  his 
back,  his  face,  his  feet,  and  other  parts.  After  this, 
they  forced  open  his  mouth,  and  burned  his  tongue 
with  red-hot  pincers.  During  these  inhuman  opera- 
tions, Azo  fainted  several  times,  but  on  recovering  con- 
sciousness maintained  the  same  inflexibility  of  pur- 
pose. Meanwhile,  in  the  adjoining  apartment,  a 
heart-rending  scene  was  being  enacted.  The  wo- 
men and  the  children,  terrified  by  the  groans  and 
cries  of  the  tortured  man,  fainted.  When  they  re- 
vived, they  endeavored  to  rush  out  to  call  for  help, 


254  AR^IENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

but  the  gendarmes,  stationed  at  the  door,  barred  their 
passage,  and  brutally  pushed  them  back.  * 

*'  lights  were  passed  in  such  hellish  orgies  and 
days  in  inventing  new  tortures  or  refining  upon  the 
old,  with  an  ingenuity  which  reveals  unimagined 
strata  of  malignity  in  the  human  heart.  The  results 
throw  the  most  sickening  horrors  of  the  Middle  Ages 
into  the  shade.  Some  of  them  cannot  be  described, 
nor  even  hinted  at.  The  shock  to  people's  sensibili- 
ties would  be  too  terrible.  And  yet  they  were  not 
merely  described  to,  but  endured  by  men  of  education 
and  refinement,  whose  sensibilities  were  as  delicate 
as  ours. 

'^  And  when  the  prisons  in  which  these  and  analo- 
gous doings  were  carried  on  had  no  more  room  for 
new-comers,  some  of  the  least  obnoxious  of  its  actual 
inmates  were  released  for  a  bribe,  or,  in  case  of  pov- 
erty, were  expeditiously  poisoned  off. 

^'  In  the  homes  of  these  wretched  people  the  fiend- 
ish fanatics  were  equally  active  and  equally  success- 
ful. Family  life  was  poisoned  at  its  very  source. 
Rape  and  dishonor,  with  nameless  accompaniments, 
menaced  almost  every  girl  and  woman  in  tlie  land. 
They  could  not  stir  out  of  their  houses  in  broad  day- 
light to  visit  the  bazaars,  or  to  work  in  the  fields, 
nor  even  lie  down  at  night  in  their  own  homes,  with- 
out fearing  the  fall  of  that  Damocles'  sword  ever  sus- 
pended over  their  heads.  Tender  youth,  childhood 
itself,  was  no  guarantee.  Children  were  often  mar- 
ried at  the  a2:e  of  eleven,  even  ten,  in  the  vain  hope  of 
lessening  this  danger.     But  the  protection  of  a  hus- 


*  The  above  description  is  taken  literally  from  a  report 
of  the  British  Vioe-Consnl  of  Erzeronm.  Copies  are  in  pos- 
session of  the  diplomatic  representatives  of  the  powers  at 
Constantinople.  The  scene  oecnrred  in  the  Village  of  Semal 
before  the  massacres,  during  the  normal  condition  of  things. 


THE  TURKISH  ATKOCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      256 

band  proved  unavailing;  it  merely  meant  one  murder 
more,  and  one  '  Christian  dog'  less.  A  bride  would 
be  married  in  church  yesterday,  and  her  body  would 
be  devoured  by  the  beasts  and  birds  of  prey  to-mor- 
row,—  a  band  of  ruffians,  often  officials,  having  with- 
in the  intervening  forty-eight  hours  seized  her  and 
outraged  her  to  death.  Others  would  be  abducted, 
and,  having  for  weeks  been  subjected  to  the  loathsome 
lusts  of  lawless  Kurds,  would  end  by  abjuring  their 
God  and  embracing  Islam;  not  from  any  vulgar  mo- 
tive of  gain,  but  to  escape  the  burning  shame  of  re- 
turning home  as  pariahs  and  lepers,  to  be  shunned  by 
those  near  and  dear  to  them  forever.  Little  girls  of 
five  and  six  were  frequently  forced  to  be  present  dur- 
ing these  horrible  scenes  of  lust,  and  they,  too,  were 
often  sacrificed  before  the  eyes  of  their  mothers,  who 
would  have  gladly,  madly  accepted  death,  ay,  and 
damnation,  to  save  their  tender  offspring  from  the 
corroding  poison. 

"  One  of  the  abducted  young  women  who,  having 
been  outraged  by  the  son  of  the  Deputy-Governor  of 
Khnouss,  Hussein  Bey,  returned,  a  pariah,  and  is  now 
alone  in  the  world,  lately  appealed  to  her  English 
sistei's  for  such  aid  as  a  heathen  would  give  to  a  brute, 
and  she  besought  it  in  the  name  of  our  common  God. 
Lucine  Mussegh  —  this  is  the  name  of  that  outraged 
young  woman  whose  Protestant  education  gave  her, 
as  she  thought,  a  special  claim  to  act  as  the  spokes- 
woman of  Armenian  mothers  and  daughters  —  Lu- 
cine Mussegh  besought,  last  March,  the  women  of 
England  to  obtain  for  the  women  of  Armenia  the 
*  privilege '  of  living  a  pure  and  chaste  life  !  This 
was  the  boon  which  she  craved  —  but  did  not,  could 
not  obtain.  The  interests  of  '  higher  politics,'  the 
civilizing  missions  of  the  Christian  powers,  are,  it 
seems,  incompatible  with  it  !    '  For  the  love  of  the  God 


256  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

whom  we  worship  in  common/  wrote  this  outraged, 
but  still  hopeful,  Armenian  lady,  ^  help  us,  Christian 
sisters  !  Help  us  before  it  is  too  late,  and  take  the 
thanks  of  the  mothers,  the  wives,  the  sisters,  and  the 
daughters  of  my  people,  and  with  them  the  gratitude 
of  one  for  whom,  in  spite  of  her  youth,  death  would 
come  as  a  happy  release.' 

"  Neither  the  Christian  sisters  nor  the  Christian 
brethren  in  England  have  seen  their  way  to  comply 
with  this  strange  request.  But  it  may  perhaps  in- 
terest Lucine  IMussegh  to  learn  that  the  six  great  pow- 
ers of  Europe  are  quite  unanimous,  and  are  manfully 
resolved,  come  what  will,  to  shield  His  Majesty  the 
Sultan  from  harm,  to  support  his  rule,  and  to  guar- 
antee his  kingdom  from  disintegration.  These  are 
objects  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  great  powers; 
as  for  the  privilege  of  leading  pure  and  chaste  lives  — 
they  cannot  be  importuned  about  such  private  mat- 
ters. 

"  In  due  time  they  began.  Over  60,000  Armen- 
ians have  been  butchered,  and  the  massacres  are  not 
quite  ended  yet.  In  Trebizond,  Erzeroum,  Erzin- 
ghan,  Hassankalek,  and  numberless  other  places  the 
Christians  were  crushed  like  grapes  during  the  vin- 
tage. The  frantic  mob,  seething  and  surging  in  the 
streets  of  the  cities,  swept  down  upon  the  defenseless 
Armenians,  plundered  their  shops,  gutted  their  houses, 
then  joked  and  jested  with  the  terrified  victims,  as 
cats  play  with  mice.  As  rapid,  whirling  motion  pro- 
duces apparent  rest,  so  the  wild  frenzy  of  those  fierce 
fanatical  crowds  resulted  in  a  condition  of  seeming 
calmness,  composure,  and  gentleness  which,  taken  in 
connection  with  the  unutterable  brutality  of  their 
acts,  was  of  a  nature  to  freeze  men's  blood  with  hor- 
ror.    In  many  cases  they  almost  caressed  their  vie- 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     257 

tims,  and  actually  encouraged  them  to  hope,  while  pre- 
paring the  instruments  of  slaughter." 

After  the  horrible  scenes  at  Sassoun,  and  other 
places,  the  Armenian  protests  shamed  the  European 
powers,  who  signed  the  treaty  of  Berlin,  to  send  a  com- 
mission and  investigate  the  atrocities.  It  found  the 
stories  quite  true,  laid  the  facts  before  the  Sultan  — 
and  that  was  the  end  of  it.  The  Armenians  asked, 
"  Since  you  admit  the  truth  of  these  things,  why  do 
you  not  punish  the  criminals,  stop  the  outrages,  and 
compel  the  payment  of  indemnity  to  those  who  were 
outraged  and  who  lost  their  dear  ones  and  their  prop- 
erty ?  "  The  powers  were  deaf  to  all  this.  Then  the 
Armenians  prepared  an  appeal  (several  months  ago) 
and  carried  it  to  the  Sublime  Porte,  asking  it  to  do 
them  justice.  As  soon  as  the  Sultan  heard  of  this,  he 
ordered  his  soldiers  to  fire  on  them  if  they  presented 
it.  The  appeal  was.  presented,  and  before  the  eyes 
of  the  European  Ambassadors  in  Constantinople,  the 
brave  soldiers  of  the  kind-hearted  Sultan  butchered 
about  3,000  Armenian  Christians,  several  thousand 
were  imprisoned,  and  several  hundred  were  murdered 
in  the  Central  Prison.  Then  the  cold,  wise,  and  con- 
siderate European  powers  began  to  move  very  slowly, 
not  for  the  sake  of  the  Armenians,  but  for  their  own, 
their  citizens  in  Constantinople  and  elsewhere. 

They  ordered  the  Sultan  to  reform  Armenia, 
brought  their  fleets  to  the  Dardanelles  near  Constan- 
tinople to  overawe  him,  prepared  a  scheme  of  reform 
for  Armenia,  and  made  huge  threats  to  the  Sultan 
17 


258  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

if  he  did  not  aocept  it.  But  lie  knew  that  this  pre- 
tended concert  of  the  powers  for  Armenian  reform 
was  a  mere  trick  and  sham,  as  I  have  persistently  as- 
serted all  along  in  the  face  of  my  hopeful  European 
and  xVmerican  friends;  in  fact,  the  Kussian  govern- 
ment at  this  very  time  was  secretly  urging  him  to  stand 
firm  and  refuse  to  accept  the  reforms.  He  did  so, 
broached  a  scheme  of  his  own  as  a  substitute,  and  the 
powers  accepted  it  as  such;  and  then  the  whole  thing 
was  dropped,  the  Sultan  did  nothing  whatever  about 
it,  as  he  had  never  intended  to.  The  European  coun- 
tries were  hoodwinked,  and  the  Armenian  massacres 
and  conflagrations,  plundering  and  deflowering,  went 
on  at  a  greater  pace  than  ever.  Then  the  powers 
dropped  the  Armenian  question,  and  took  up  that  of 
gunboats  in  the  Bosphorus,  to  protect  their  citizens 
against  a  rising  in  Constantinople;  that  they  forced 
the  Sultan  to  permit,  because  their  own  interests  were 
concerned  in  it,  —  which  shows  that  they  could  have 
forced  him  to  stop  exterminating  the  Armenians  if 
they  had  cared.  All  joined  in  this  except  Germany; 
the  German  Emperor  is  the  Sultan's  friend,  and  backs 
him  up.  So  now  Germany,  Russia,  and  the  Sultan 
are  hand  in  hand,  leagued  to  prevent  any  of  the  mis- 
erable victims  of  his  tyranny  from  escaping  his  clut- 
ches, and  the  Sultan  has  the  best  possible  encourage- 
ment to  go  on  killing  the  Armenians.  The  German 
Emperor  says,  ''  Better  that  Armenians  be  killed 
than  have  a  war  in  Europe  and  lose  the  lives  of  some 
of  my  soldiers."       The  Czar  says,  "Time  must  be 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      250 

given  to  the  Sultan  to  reform  his  country.**  Lord 
Salisbury  says,  ''  The  Sultan  has  promised,  and  we 
nuist  wait  and  see  what  lie  will  do."  And  the  Sultau, 
cursing  every  Emperor  and  lord  of  them  all  as  a  set 
of  Christian  hogs,  orders  the  soldiers  and  the  Kurds  to 
go  on  with  the  good  work  in  Armenia.  And  when  we 
come  to  America,  the  Monroe  doctrine  obliges  it  to 
quarrel  over  Venezuela,  and  not  only  refuse  help 
itself,  but  give  Lord  Salisbury  a  good  excuse  to  give 
none  either. 

Such  is  the  situation;  the  massacres  are  going  on 
in  Armenia  and  the  Armenians  in  despair  are  crying, 
"  O  Lord,  how  long,  how  long  !  " 

Mass  meetings  are  good  as  far  as  they  go;  raising 
money  and  sending  it  to  relieve  the  Armenians  is  good 
as  far  as  it  goes;  the  Hed  Cross  Society  is  good  as  far 
as  it  goes;  there  are  no  objections  to  any  of  them;  they 
are  all  noble  and  Christian.  But,  reader,  don't  you 
think  all  these  good  movements  with  good  motives 
will  hurt  the  Armenian  cause,  as  there  is  nothing  to 
aid  that  cause  directly  ?  All  these  mass-meetings 
merely  irritate  the  Sultan  into  carrying  on  the  mur- 
ders more  strenuously,  since  there  is  no  force  back 
of  them.  Don't  you  think  the  Armenian  question 
being  discussed  in  the  United  States  Congress,  and 
resolutions  made  without  any  action,  will  hurt  the 
Armenians  more  than  anything  else  ?  If  you  can't 
tread  down  the  Sultan,  don't  stir  him  up.  Miss  Clara 
Barton,  that  noble  woman,  is  in  Armenia  to  help  the 
Armenians.     The  Red  Cross  Society  is  there  and  is 


260  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

feeding  the  Armenians.  I  thank  her,  every  Armen- 
ian thanks  her.  But  do  you  think  that  that  will  re- 
lieve the  situation  ?  Spring  has  come,  and  what 
now  ?  Will  the  Armenians  have  any  crops  ?  Did 
they,  or  could  they  sow  any  seed  ?  Is  there  any  far- 
mer left  alive  ?  Has  any  farmer,  if  he  is  alive,  any 
oxen  or  horses  ?  If  he  has,  will  he  dare  go  to  his  field, 
sow,  reap,  and  thresh  ?  Eeader,  consider  all  these 
things,  and  reconsider  them,  and  I  am  sure  you  will 
come  to  the  same  conclusion  I  did  many  years  ago, 
that  Turkey  does  not  need  a  Ked  Cross  Society,  but 
a  Red  Cross  crusade,  not  like  the  medieval  crusades, 
but  a  Protestant  American  crusade  in  the  nineteenth 
century.  Let  me  illustrate  this  Armenian  question 
by  the  following  parable : — 

Suppose  a  lamb  is  torn  by  a  wolf,  and  the  wolf  lies 
in  wait  to  finish  it.  You  go  to  the  lamb  with  a  bundle 
of  grass  in  your  hand,  pat  it  and  say,  "  Here,  poor 
lamb,  I  pity  you,  I  give  you  grass;  take  it  aud  eat  it." 
Then  you  leave  the  lamb  and  go  away.  Do  you  think 
you  have  helped  the  lamb  ?  As  soon  as  you  have 
gone,  the  wolf  will  come  and  tear  the  lamb  to  pieces. 
If  you  are  going  to  help  the  lamb,  you  must  kill  the 
wolf,  else  no  matter  how  much  grass  you  give  the 
wounded  lamb,  it  will  do  it  no  good.  You  will  do  no 
good  by  sending  Eed  Cross  societies  to  Armenia  to  feed 
the  Armenians  if  you  have  not  the  power  or  the  will 
to  keep  the  wild  beasts  off.  You  will  feed  them,  and 
then  the  wolves  will  kill  them. 

JsTow  I  will  pass  in  review  some  of  the  leading  cities 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     261 

in  Armenia  where  there  have  been  great  persecutions. 
Before  beginning,  however,  I  must  state  that  it  is 
impossible  to  give  an  accurate  census  of  the  popula- 
tion in  the  Armenian  cities,  or  the  number  who  have 
been  massacred;  for  the  Turkish  government  never 
takes  a  correct  census,  and  never  gives  or  will  give 
the  true  number  of  those  it  has  murdered.  J^ut  I 
think  I  can  make  a  fair  approximation  of  both.  I 
will  begin  with  the  city  of  Harpoot.  * 

HARPOOT  AND  ITS  VICINITY. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  important  Armenian  dis- 
tricts, because  the  Armenians  outnumber  the  Mo- 
hammedans there;  in  the  city  the  Turks  are  the  more 
numerous,  but  there  are  many  Armenian  towns  and 
villages  which  make  up.  The  district  has  about  150,- 
000  people,  most  of  them  Armenians,  and  about  40,- 
000  w^ere  killed  in  the  recent  massacre.  Harpoot  is 
built  on  three  hills,  and  has  a  commanding  view. 
Here  is  located  a  great  American  missionary  institu- 
tion, the  Euphrates  College;  it  has  three  departments, 
the  college,  the  Theological  Seminary,  and  the  Girls' 
Seminary.  There  were  twelve  buildings,  eight  of 
which  were  burned  in  the  outrages,  a  loss  of  $100,- 
000. 

Almost  all  the  outlying  villages  were  burned, 
and  the  movables  carried  off.  Women  were  made 
prey,  boys  and  girls  were  kidnapped;  the  horrors  can 
never  be  described.  T  give  here  a  few  words  from  a 
private  letter,  written  by  a  Mohammedan  Turk  to 
his  brother  in  this  countrv.     T  have  the  letter  in  mv 


♦  Extracts  from  letters  are  left  unsigned  for  fear  of  en- 
dangering the  writers'  lives. 


262  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

possession,  written  in  the  Turkish  language.       He 

says : — 

"  Mj  dear  brother: 

All  the  Christian  villages  which  belong  to  Har- 
poot  district,  we  plundered  and  destroyed,  and  killed 
the  inhabitants.  We  killed  them  both  with  our 
swords  and  with  our  rifles.  The  bullets  of  our  rifles 
poured  upon  them  like  rain;  none  of  them  are  left, 
neither  any  dwelling  was  left,  we  burnt  all  their 
houses.  We  thank  God  that  not  a  single  Mohamme- 
dan was  killed.  Everywhere  throughout  Armenia 
the  Christians  were  punished  in  the  same  manner." 

Another  testimony  from  another  Mohammedan, 
an  officer;  he  says  nearly  40,000  were  killed  in  Har- 
poot  province,  February  26,  1896: — 

"  A  petition  in  behalf  of  the  Armenians  was  given 
to  the  powers  in  the  hope  of  improving  their  condi- 
tion. An  imperial  firman  was  issued  for  carrying  out 
the  reforms  suggested  by  the  powers.  On  this  ac- 
count the  Turkish  population  was  much  excited,  and 
thought  that  an  Armenian  principality  was  to  be  es- 
tablished, and  they  began  to  show  great  hostility  to 
the  poor  Armenians,  who  had  been  obedient  to  them 
and  with  whom  they  had  lived  in  peace  for  more 
than  600  years.  To  the  anger  of  the  people  were 
added  the  permission  and  help  of  the  government; 
and  so,  before  the  reforms  were  undertaken,  the  whole 
Turkish  population  was  aroused,  with  the  evil  intent 
of  obliterating  the  Armenian  name;  and  so  the  Turks 
of  the  province,  joining  with  the  neighboring  Kurd- 
ish tribes  by  the  thousand,  armed  with  weapons  which 
are  allowed  only  to  the  army,  and  with  the  help  and 
under  the  guidance  of  Turkish  officials,  in  an  open 
manner,  in    the    daytime,  attacked    the    Armenian 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      268 

houses,  shops,  stores,  monasteries,  churches,  schools, 
and  committed  the  fearful  atrocities  set  forth  in  the 
accompanying  tabic.  They  killed  bishops,  priests, 
teachers,  and  common  people  with  every  kind  of  tor- 
ture, and  they  showed  special  spite  toward  ecclesias- 
tics by  treating  their  bodies  with  extra  indignity,  and 
in  many  cases  they  did  not  allow  their  bodies  to  be 
buried.  Some  they  burned,  and  some  they  gave  as 
food  to  dogs  and  wild  beasts. 

"  They  plundered  churches  and  monasteries,  and 
they  took  all  the  property  of  the  common  people,  their 
flocks  and  herds,  their  ornaments  and  their  money, 
their  house  furnishings  and  their  food,  and  even  the 
clothing  of  the  men  and  women  in  their  flight.  Then 
after  plundering  them,  they  burned  many  houses, 
churches,  monasteries,  schools,  and  markets,  some- 
times using  petroleum,  which  they  had  brought  with 
them  to  hasten  the  burning ;  large  stone  churches  which 
would  not  burn  they  ruined  in  other  ways. 

"  Priests,  laymen,  women,  and  even  small  chil- 
dren were  made  Moslejns  by  force.  They  put  white 
turbans  on  the  men  and  circumcised  them  in  a  cruel 
manner.  They  cut  the  hair  of  the  women  in  bangs, 
like  that  of  Moslem  women,  and  made  them  go 
through  the  Mohammedan  prayers.  Married  women 
and  girls  were  defiled,  against  the  sacred  law,  and 
some  were  married  by  force,  and  are  still  detained  in 
Turkish  houses.  Especially  in  Palu,  Severek,  Ma- 
latia,  Arabkir,  and  Choonkoosh,  many  women  and 
girls  were  taken  to  the  soldiers'  barracks  and  dis- 
honored. Many,  to  escape,  threw  themselves  into  the 
Euphrates,  or  committed  suicide  in  other  ways. 

"  It  is  clear  that  the  majority  of  those  killed  in 
Harpoot,  Severek,  Husenik,  Malatia,  and  Arabkir 
were  killed  by  the  soldiers,  and  also  that  the  schools 
and  churches  of  the  missionaries  and  Gregorians  in  the 


264  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

upper  quarter  of  Harpoot  City,  together  with  the 
houses,  were  set  on  fire  by  cannon  balls. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  state  the  amount  of  the  pecu- 
niary loss.  The  single  city  of  Egin  has  given  1,200 
(some  say  1,500)  Turkish  pounds  as  a  ransom. 

^*  These  events  have  occurred  for  the  reasons  I 
have  mentioned.  I  Avish  to  show  by  this  statement, 
which  I  have  written  from  love  to  humanity,  that  the 
Armenians  gave  no  occasion  for  these  attacks." 

The  Turk,  whose  document  is  thus  translated, 
figures  that  the  total  deaths  in  the  province  of  Har- 
poot during  the  scenes,  have  been  39,334;  the  wound- 
ed 8,000;  houses  burned,  28,562;  and  that  the  num- 
ber of  the  destitutes  is  94,870. 

"  In  a  letter  just  received  (Jan.  18, 1896)  from  the 
Kev.  H.  N.  Barnum,  D.D.,  of  Harpoot,  Eastern  Tur- 
key, where  the  property  of  the  American  Board  was 
burned,  he  says  that  reports  have  been  secured  from 
176  villages  in  the  vicinity  of  Harpoot.  These  vil- 
lages contained  15,400  houses  belonging  to  Christians. 
Of  this  number  7,054  have  been  burned,  and  15,845 
persons  are  reported  killed.  Dr.  Barnum  adds :  ^  The 
reality,  I  fear,  will  prove  to  be  much  greater.'  " 

A  letter  from  an  Armenian  named  Kallajian, 
written  from  Husenik,  a  town  about  three  miles  from 
Harpoot,  addressed  to  his  brother  in  this  country,  says : 

"  Sunday,  November  11,  the  government  came 
to  our  town,  Husenik,  and  asked  the  Armenians  to 
give  up  their  arms,  and  they  surrendered  all  they  had; 
and  in  the  evening  asked  them  to  take  the  church  bell 
down.     They  also  obeyed,  and  by  night  the  Turkish 


«        <<      * 


I  «     c       ,    «- 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      265 

soldiers  surrounded  the  town  until  the  morning,  and 
in  the  morning  early  they  sounded  the  bugle.  When 
they  sounded  the  bugle,  about  25,000  Kurds  made  an 
attack  on  the  town,  and  plundered  all  the  houses,  kill- 
ing 700  men,  women,  and  children,  besides  the 
wounded.  When  the  attack  was  made,  we  left  our 
house,  with  two  of  our  neighbors'  families  and  many 
others  from  our  town,  about  thirty  in  all.  One  little 
boy,  my  nephew,  I  carried  on  my  shoulders,  and  the 
other  was  carried  by  its  mother,  and  we  ran  up  the 
hill  toward  Harpoot.  The  bullets  were  showering 
upon  us  by  hundreds,  and  father  fell.  He  was  shot 
once  in  the  head  and  once  in  the  belly,  and  stabbed 
with  a  sword  through  his  chin.  When  we  reached 
the  top  of  the  hill,  about  twenty  Kurds  came  down 
from  Harpoot,  and  took  all  our  clothes  and  money, 
and  left  us  naked;  and  a  little  after,  a  band  of  Turks 
came  down  and  made  so  much  trouble  for  us  that  I 
am  unable  to  describe  it.  They  took  us  to  the  city, 
and  we  finally  succeeded  in  getting  to  the  house  of 
Sadukh  Effendi,  formerly  of  our  town,  but  now  living 
in  the  city.  We  went  to  his  house,  and  this  kind  man 
kept  us  there  for  two  days  in  his  house,  and  on  Tuesday, 
evening  he  took  us  to  our  own  town,  and  as  we  came 
near  to  our  house  I  found  that  father  was  dead  under 
a  tree.  We  went  to  the  house ;  we  saw  that  our  house 
was  open  and  stripped  of  everything,  and  father's 
trunk  was  broken  open,  and  his  papers  were  soaked  in 
kerosene  and  set  on  fire,  and  twenty-five  houses  were 
destroyed  on  our  street.  We  are  hungry  and  in  des- 
titute condition;  help  us  if  you  can.  Our  little 
nephew  savs:  ^  O  Jesus,  keep  us  afar  from  such  trou- 
ble.' " 

There  are  other  letters  also  from  Harpoot,  but 
this  is  enough  to  show  the  nature  of  the  scenes  there. 


266  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

PALOO  AND  WHAT  HAPPENED  THEHE. 

Paloo  is  one  of  the  oldest  cities  in  Armenia.  It 
had  15,000  population,  5,000  Armenians  and  10,000 
Mohammedans,  and  there  were  over  forty  Armenian 
villages  in  the  district  around.  About  5,000  Chris- 
tians were  killed  during  the  recent  massacre. 

Personal  Letters  From  Paloo, 
December  15,  1895. 

"  Paloo  is  in  a  miserable  condition.  All  the 
houses  and  shops  have  been  robbed.  About  2,000  per- 
sons have  perished,  and  few  have  survived  this  great 
ruin;  but  we  thank  God  all  our  family  is  in  safety. 
Just  to-day  I  received  a  letter  from  our  home;  they 
write:  ^  We  are  alive,  but  hungry.'  They  have  no 
bread  to  eat,  and  no  clothes  to  wear;  our  only  hope  is 
God.  If  the  country  is  soon  reformed  we  can  get  our 
living,  but  if  not  we  shall  all  perish.  Turks,  Kurds, 
and  soldiers  united,  plundered,  robbed,  and  burned  the 
houses  of  Paloo  and  the  neighboring  villages.  You 
can  guess  very  well  who  has  given  the  order." 

A  personal  letter  received  by  the  Armenian  Relief 
Association,  in  this  city,  under  date  of  Paloo,  Ar- 
menia, November  24,  presents  an  awful  picture  of 
the  horrors  to  which  the  people  there  are  subjected. 
The  letter  is  in  part  as  follows: — 

"  On  November  3,  the  Turks  of  the  town  armed 
themselves,  attacked  the  stores,  plundered  their  con- 
tents, and  killed  those  who  attempted  to  defend  them- 
selves. A  few  days  later  the  Turks  left  the  town, 
joined  a  band  of  10,000  Kurds,  and  began  a  general 
assault  upon  the  surrounding  villages,  pillaging  and 
burning  the  houses,  and  killing  all  the  men.     They 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     267 

poured  kerosene  oil  on  all  the  stored  grain  and  set  it 
on  fire,  and  mixed  the  flour  with  filth,  so  that  it  could 
not  be  used.  The  beautiful  women  were  delivered  to 
the  Kurds,  who  committed  the  most  indescribable  out- 
rages. Many  were  carried  oif  to  slavery,  and  forced 
to  accept  Mohammedanism. 

"  In  Habab  Village,  where  the  people  defended 
themselves  for  six  days,  the  government  soldiers  were 
called  to  the  aid  of  the  Kurds,  and  the  united  forces 
overpowered  the  village  and  burned  all  except  fifteen 
of  their  three  hundred  houses. 

"  All  of  the  forty-one  Armenian  villages  around 
Paloo  are  in  ashes,  the  fields  laid  waste,  and  the  in- 
habitants massacred.  Nothing  is  left  but  death  and 
desolation. 

"  On  [N'ovember  11,  10,000  armed  Kurds  fell  upon 
the  city  of  Paloo.  They  plundered  the  houses,  even 
pulling  down  the  walls  with  hooks  to  discover  any- 
thing valuable  that  might  be  hidden.  All  the  large 
houses  were  burned.  Ten  of  the  wealthy  Armenians, 
who  have  always  cared  for  the  poor,  and  sheltered 
the  distressed,  are  left  without  a  pair  of  shoes  or  a 
blanket,  1,732  men  were  butchered  in  cold  blood, 
and  of  the  10,000  population,  two  hundred  men  only 
are  left,  saved  on  condition  that  they  serve  the  Turks 
as  slaves. 

"  More  than  5,000  women  and  children  are  left 
without  any  means  of  living.  They  are  begging  from 
door  to  door  for  even  a  meagre  pittance  of  bran,  which 
is  all  that  is  left,  and  every  day  death  claims  more 
and  more  of  the  victims  by  starvation.  All  of  the 
more  beautiful  women  have  been  taken  by  the  Kurds. 
The  Armenian  youths  who  have  been  forced  to  accept 
[Mohammedanism  are  also  forced  to  take  Turkish  wives 
to  prove  their  sincerity. 


268  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

"  All  of  my  relations,  save  two,  have  been  killed 
in  my  presence.  Our  priests  have  all  been  butchered, 
except  one,  who  was  forced  to  accept  Islamism.  Our 
churches  have  been  turned  into  mosques,  where  the 
remaining  women  and  old  men  are  compelled  to  go 
and  be  taught  Islam  by  the  Mohammedan  priest." 

But  here  is  another  letter,  from  an  Armenian 
mother  to  her  son  in  this  country,  which  brings  us  still 
closer  to  the  actual  horrors,  for  this  woman  was  herself 
a  victim  —  turned  at  a  blow  from  a  comfortable  ma- 
tron to  a  naked  beggar,  in  winter,  among  the  ruins  of 
her  village,  her  own  friends  killed,  herself  foully 
abused.  Read  this,  and  then  talk,  if  you  dare,  about 
"  exaggerated  accounts  "  ! 

"  December  12,  1895. 
"My  Dear  Son:— 
"  We  received  your  letter  dated  November  14thj 
which  we  read  with  great  pleasure.  You  asked  for 
information  about  us,  as  to  how  we  are,  etc.  Except 
your  father,  we  are  all  still  alive,  with  our  relatives, 
and  long  to  see  you  very  much.  It  is  very  hard  to 
describe  with  the  pen  all  the  misfortunes  that  we 
have  undergone.  They  cannot  be  told ;  but  since  you 
are  very  eager  to  know,  I  will  try  to  write  it  down 
for  you  very  briefly.  My  dear  son,  on  Tuesday, 
November  28th,  they  took  by  force  the  oxen  that  are 
used  for  ploughing  the  fields.  Until  the  evening  of 
that  day  they  gathered  all  the  oxen  for  ploughing  from 
Paloo  and  the  neighboring  Armenian  villages,  and 
took  them  for  themselves,  and  gave  us  notice  that  they 
should  attack  the  village.  Wednesday  morning  all 
the  people  of  the  surrounding  Turkish  villages  gath- 
ered round  about  our  village,  and  our  village  was  be- 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     2()!) 

sieged  until  about  noontime.  From  ten  to  fifteen 
persons  were  killed  up  to  that  time  from  our  side,  and 
the  village  was  surrounded  by  more  than  twenty-two 
thousand  Turks  and  Kurds,  who  bear  arms.  It  was 
impossible  for  us  to  protect  our  village.  We  applied 
to  the  government,  there  was  no  government  to  hear 
us;  despair  reigned  in  the  hearts  of  all.  They  fought 
until  evening,  and  before  they  had  reached  us,  wo, 
all  the  villagers,  left  everything,  even  not  taking 
bread  for  one  meal  with  us,  went  to  the  monastery 
and  left  the  village  to  the  Turks.  We  passed  the 
night  in  the  monastery,  hungry  and  thirsty ;  the  num- 
ber of  the  killed  reached  to  thirty  by  morning. 
Then  we  learned  that  it  was  not  safe,  even  in  the 
monastery,  although  they  had  plundered  it  two  or 
three  times.  Thursday,  by  noontime,  the  monastery 
was  full  of  villagers.  At  noon  there  was  a  blow  on 
the  door  of  the  monastery.  Ravenous  Turks,  Zazes, 
and  others  were  besieging  the  building.  Until  evening 
they  beat  at  the  iron  door  to  break  it;  fifteen  persons 
were  at  it,  but  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  open  it. 
Within,  the  shrieks  and  the  cries  of  the  people  reached 
up  to  heaven.  Men,  in  order  to  save  their  lives,  dressed 
themselves  in  women^s  clothes,  and  covered  their 
heads.  Your  brother  wrapped  his  moustaches 
so  thickly  that  he  should  not  be  known,  as  the  Turks 
were  after  him  by  name.  About  3  p.  m.,  when  the 
Turks  saw  that  it  was  not  possible  for  them  to  open  the 
gate  of  the  monastery,  they  broke  in  one  of  the  stones 
in  the  wall,  and  the  plunderers  entered.  ...  I 
cannot  describe  here  the  sufferings  of  the  people.  .  . 
Within  one  hour  they  robbed  and  violated  a  popula- 
tion of  1,500  people,  five  times  each  woman,  mar- 
ried or  maiden,  and  then  left  the  monastery.  The 
villagers,  every  one  to  save  her  or  his  life,  left  every- 


270  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

thing,  property,  cattle,  merchandise,  and  provisions, 
and  fled,  the  man  leaving  his  wife,  the  wife  her  child, 
the  son  his  mother,  the  brother  his  sister,  and  they  dis- 
persed in  the  adjoining  mountains,  plains,  valleys, 
and  hills,  with  only  their  under-garments  on,  as  the 
Turks  and  Kurds  had  stripped  them  of  everything 
else.  Friday  morning  the  number  of  the  killed  had 
reached  about  fifty.  Your  father  was  shot  on  the 
plain  of  Sacrat,  but  the  wound  was  not  dangerous. 
For  three  days  the  people  gathered  in  Sacrat,  hungry 
and  thirsty;  from  Sacrat  they  were  given  over  to 
the  Zazes,  to  take  them  to  the  city.  ...  I  can 
not  write  down  here  all  the  things  we  endured  at  the 
hands  of  the  Zazes.  .  Finally,  after  we  had  suffered 
unmentionable  cruelties,  being  twice  plundered  in 
the  city  and  violated,  three  brides  and  maidens  were 
carried  away  as  slaves  by  the  Kurds,  more  than  one 
hundred  persons  were  martyred,  among  whom  were 
two  priests,  and  the  rest  were  forced  to  accept  Mo- 
hammedanism, and  after  that  the  massacre  ceased. 
For  twenty  days  we  remained  in  the  city,  naked,  hun- 
gry, and  thirsty,  also  hopeless.  The  city  was  rescued 
from  the  massacre  after  having  suffered  the  loss  of  six 
hundred  houses,  together  with  all  the  property  of  the 
shops  and  stores,  and  the  total  sum  of  the  martyred 
being  2,000.  Our  village  was  given  over  to  be  burned 
for  twenty  days  successively.  Out  of  two  hundred 
houses,  there  are  hardly  thirty  left  sound;  the  rest 
are  all  razed  to  the  ground.  .  .  .  The  rest  of 
this  story  will  follow  by  next  mail.  I  wanted  to  tell 
you  a  little  about  our  hard  situation.  Saved  with  only 
our  undergarments,  hungry  and  thirsty,  our  whole 
family  came  back  from  the  city,  among  the  ruins.  I, 
your  mother,  had  to  go  begging  wholly  naked  and 
barefoot  to  the  familiar  Kurd  neighbors.     I  had  only 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     271 

one  shirt,  which  I  made  into  a  bag  to  put  the  things 
in  which  I  begged  from  the  Kurds.  For  fifty  days  I 
have  provided  thus  for  the  family;  after  this  I  com- 
mit it  to  your  care;  you  know  best  what  to  do.  We 
have  not  got  even  a  head  covering;  nothing  to  carry 
the  water  home  in  from  the  fountain.  It  is  the  month 
of  December,  and  you  know  well  it  is  the  first  month 
of  the  winter;  we  have  two  and  a  half  months  yet  be- 
fore coming  to  the  spring.  We  are  all  of  us  very,  very, 
hungry.  Those  Turks  who  were  so  friendly  before 
have  turned  now  not  to  know  us,  they  don^t  even  give 
a  penny.  We  have  no  hope  from  anywhere  else;  if 
you  do  not  come  to  our  help,  we  shall  perish  !  perish  ! 
perish  !  We,  with  all  the  villagers  shall  die.  Be- 
hold the  description  of  our  misery.  Read  this  to  all 
the  villagers  that  are  there  with  you,  and  notify  them 
that  all  of  you  must  be  the  helpers  and  deliverers  of  our 
people,  especially  to  us  who  are  all  helpless  atid  on  the 
verge  of  starvation.     Send  us  help.     I  remain 

"  Your  affectionate  mother." 

MALATIA  AND  ITS  HARDSHIPS. 

Malatia  is  located  about  midway  between  Marash 
and  Harpoot,  a  little  distance  from  the  Euphrates 
river.  More  fruit  is  raised  in  and  about  there  than 
in  any  other  section  of  x\rmenia.  The  assortment  is 
large,  but  the  apples  and  pears  are  especially  fine,  per- 
haps better  than  those  of  any  part  of  the  world. 
It  has  about  20,000  population,  two-thirds  being 
Mohammedans,  and  one-third  Armenians.  The 
private  letters  which  have  been  received  from  there 
do  not  state,  and  cannot  state  how  many  Armenians 


272  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

have  been  killed  during  the  period  of  the  present  perse- 
ciitions,  and  it  is  not  likely  there  ever  will  be  any  cor- 
rect estimate  of  them.  The  region  has  suffered  im- 
mensely, and  letters  from  there  reveal  a  most  distress- 
ing condition  of  affairs.  The  people  were  plundered 
and  violated  in  every  conceivable  way  until  there  was 
nothing  more  for  the  time  being  for  the  fiends  to  wreak 
their  cruelty  upon. 

Letters  prom  Malatia. 

Malatia,  Dec.  22,  1895. 
My  Very  Dear  Son:— 

We  greet  you  with  the  fondest  greeting,  and  it 
is  the  desire  of  our  hearts  that  the  good  Lord  shovild 
enable  us  to  see  each  other  again  in  this  mortal  flesh. 
In  regard  to  ourselves,  as  to  how  we  were,  and  what 
we  are  doing.  We  are  all  alive  yet  with  our  whole 
family,  no  loss  of  persons  from  among  us.  Don't 
mourn  for  us.  Others  are  mourning  for  their  loved 
ones.  Though  in  truth  the  grief  and  mourning  of 
others  belong  to  us  also  because  we  are  all  Armenians, 
one  flesh  and  blood,  and  we  all  belong  to  the  same 
nation. 

I  did  not  go  to  bring  up  the  bride  of  our  neigh- 
bor's with  the  rest,  so  I  was  at  home  when  the  mas- 
sacre began.  You  remember  that  there  was  a  well 
in  that  quarter.  The  Turks  killed  the  bridegroom, 
his  brother,  the  priest,  together  with  sixty-five  other 
men,  and  threw  them  into  that  well.  In  another 
house  they  burned  seventy-five  men,  and  in  still  an- 
other forty-five  men.  Finally,  I  am  unable  to  der 
scribe  with  my  pen  all  that  passed  in  those  days  and 
hours. 


i  MA  N  I'KASANT  OIUL.  MOUSA  IJEG.  Kurd  tliivf. 

Moasa  Beg  was  specially  reward«'iJ  for  his  outrapreous  ami  brutal  treatment 

ofthiss^rl.     He  killed  her  father  by  thruHtiuK  red-hot  wires  Into  his  body. 


THE  TL'UKISH  ATIIOCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      273 

May  the  Lord  preserve  your  dear  lives,  and  give 
you  peace  and  happiness.      Your  fatiier. 

Another  Letter. 

Malatia,  Dec.  22,  1895. 
My  Dear  Friend : — 

I  received  your  very  kind  letter  about  a  week  ago, 
for  which  I  thank  you  very  much,  and  I  read  it  with 
great  pleasure.  But  we  do  not  get  the  boys'  letters 
regularly.  It  is  nearly  two  months  since  the  disas- 
ter occurred,  and  in  that  time  I  have  received  but  one 
letter.  The  other  day  an  Armenian  handed  me  a  let- 
ter that  was  torn  into  nearly  a  hundred  pieces.  I 
put  all  the  pieces  together  and  read  it.  It  was  also  from 
the  boys,  and  I  read  and  was  very  glad.  Now  I  will 
try  to  give  you  a  little  information  about  us.  The 
first  Monday  I  did  not  go  to  the  market,  for  from  Sat- 
urday I  got  somehow  suspicious  that  there  was  some- 
thing impending  over  the  city,  and  I  did  not  let  father 
go  either.  My  brother  was  to  accompany  those  who 
were  going  to  bring  up  a  bride  for  my  brother's  part- 
ner in  business.  .  While  my  brother  was  at  the  wed- 
ding house,  they  sent  him  on  an  errand  to  go  and  get 
a  few  policemen  to  accompany  them  as  protection  in 
bringing  the  bride.  Just  at  the  moment  when  my 
brother  was  on  his  way  to  the  station-house,  he  sees 
there  was  confusion  in  the  market;  then  he  drops  the 
matter  of  bringing  a  policeman,  but  goes  to  the  mar- 
ket and  closes  the  shop,  and  then  turns  towards  home 
in  a  hurry.  While  on  his  way,  some  men  fired  at 
him  several  times,  but  fortunately  he  was  not  hurt. 
He  comes  as  far  as  to  one  of  our  neighbors,  and  there 
drops  do^vn  exhausted.  They  came  and  brought  me 
the  news  that  he  was  there.  Then  I  plucked  up  all 
the  courage  I  could,  and  went  and  brought  him  home. 
An  hour  or  so  after,  the  Turks  came  and  besieged  that 
18 


274  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

same  quarter  and  killed  about  thirty  persons.  On 
Tuesday,  very  early  in  the  morning,  we  left  every- 
thing, house,  property,  and  goods,  and  just  to  save  our 
lives  we  fled  to  the  new  church,  and  I  don't  know 
what  became  of  the  rest.  We  remained  there  in  the 
church  until  Friday;  after  that  we  came  out  of  the 
church,  being  a  little  assured  of  safety,  and  have  been 
living  on  the  provision  that  the  government  allowed 
us,  but  that  also  ceased  a  few  days  since.  When  we 
came  back  home  again  we  did  not  find  a  single  thing; 
they  had  swept  off  everything.  We  brought  a  mat- 
ting from  some  place,  and  six  of  us  sleep  in  one  bed. 
Some  sleep  on  hay.  May  you  never  have  to  endure 
such  hardships.  This  incident  seems  worse  than  the 
earthquake  or  the  cholera,  or  the  fire.  May  the  good 
Lord  preserve  us  from  things  worse  than  these.  Our 
life  is  not  worth  the  living.  We  don't  know  the  exact 
number  of  the  killed.  Malatia  is  altogether  a  ruin. 
It  is  a  worse  ruin  than  the  city  of  Anni,  and  even  worse 
than  Sassoun.  It  is  beyond  conception,  one  cannot 
keep  account  of  it.  May  the  Lord  write  it  down  in 
his  own  account  book,  so  that  he  should  take  the  ac- 
count in  the  day  of  judgment. 

Please  excuse  all  my  shortcomings,  because  I  am 
out  of  myself.     Our  love  to  all  the  friends  over  there. 

Yours  truly, 

P.  S.  Please  tell  the  boys  to  know  the  value  of 
money,  and  not  waste  neither  their  time  nor  their  mo- 
ney in  vain.  For  we  have  no  one  to  look  for  but  to 
God  in  heaven,  and  after  Him  to  them  on  earth.  For 
the  value  of  a  son  is  known  in  the  time  of  adversity, 
when  he  helps  his  elders  or  parents.  Let  them  not  yet 
send  any  money,  for  there  are  no  brokers  left  where 
we  can  change  it. 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      275 
THE  CITY  OF  SIVAS  AND  THE  ATROCITIES. 

Sivas  is  the  seat  of  the  vilayet  or  province  of  Sivas. 
The  Governor-General  of  that  province  resides  there. 
The  population  is  about  30,000;  one-third  are  Chris- 
tian Armenians,  and  there  are  many  Armenian  Chris- 
tian towns  and  villages  round  about,  so  that,  if  the 
Armenians  are  not  more  numerous  than  the  Moham- 
medans, they  equal  them  in  number.  Sivas  is  a  mis- 
sionary station,  and  during  the  atrocities,  the  Protes- 
tant Armenian  pastor  also  was  killed.  His  name  was 
Garabet-Kilitjiam,  one  of  the  most  gifted  ministers  of 
the  gospel,  my  personal  friend  and  successor.  After 
I  resigned  my  pastorate  at  Talas,  Cesarea,  he  succeeded 
me.  He  was  offered  the  choice  of  accepting  Moham- 
medanism, but  refused  it,  and  then  he  was  martyred. 

In  the  city  and  province  of  Sivas  during  the  recent 
atrocities  about  10,000  Armenians  were  killed,  and 
many  villages  and  towns  were  plundered  and  de- 
stroyed. 

The  following  is  a  press  dispatch: — 

Loudon,  Nov.  KJ,  1895.—  The  representative  of  the  United 
Press  at  Constantinople  reports,  under  the  date  of  November 
15th,  that  at  six  o'clock,  on  the  evening  of  November  14th, 
M.  A.  Jewett,  United  States  consul  at  Sivas,  sent  a  telegram 
to  United  States  Minister  Terrell  informing  him  tliat  in  the 
disturbances  which  had  taken  place  at  Sivas,  eight  hundred 
Armenians  and  ten  Turks  had  been  killed,  and  that,  ac- 
cording to  official  reports,  a  large  body  of  Kurds  were  then 
approaching  the  town.  Mr.  Jewett  gave  no  details  of  the 
disorders,  but  the  discrepancy  in  the  figures  shows  that  the 
Turkish  allegations  that  the  Armenians  were  the  aggressors 
are  absolutely  untrue,  and  that  the  Armenians  were  deliber- 
ately massacred. 


276  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

From  a  private  letter  from  Sivas,  Nov.  21,  1895. 
"  The  air  was  full  of  wild  rumors  —  but  we  could 
get  at  nothing  that  seemed  to  have  any  substantial 
truthful  basis.  Dr.  Jewett  —  our  consul  —  was  on 
the  alert.  He  interviewed  the  Governor-General, — 
and  asked  for  protection  for  us,  for  the  U.  S.  A.  vice- 
consul,  for  our  schools,  and  for  the  American  Consvi- 
late.  These  were  cheerfully  promised,  and  the  next 
day,  Tuesday,  November  12th,  at  midday,  like  a  cy- 
clone, Sivas  was  smitten,  as  I  wrote  you  last  week. 
Mr.  P.  and  I  had  steadfastly  refused  to  believe  that 
such  violence  could  take  place  in  our  city,  and  we  were 
totally  unprei:)ared  for  the  shock.  Our  walls  had 
been  taken  down, —  that  is,  our  front  wall  had  been, — 
a  distance  of  125  feet.  Our  girls'  school-building 
had  been  cut  off  seven  and  a  half  feet  on  the  south- 
Avest  comer,  and  both  our  schools  and  our  dwellings 
were  in  an  entirely  unprotected  state.  The  day  of 
the  terrible  disaster,  the  city  water  was  cut  off  from 
our  street,  and  for  several  days  the  heat  was  unusual 
for  this  time  of  the  year.  The  dead  were  buried  on 
Thursday,  under  the  direction  of  the  government, 
in  the  Armenian  graveyard,  a  priest  of  the  Gregorian 
faith  being  present  to  offer  a  prayer. 

"  Our  good  native  pastor  was  in  the  market  to  at- 
tend to  the  interests  of  his  people,  when,  at  a  given 
signal,  a  tribe  of  mountaineers,  known  as  Karsluks 
suddenly  fell  upon  the  Armenians  with  clubs,  and 
were  soon  followed  by  Circassians  and  local  Mussul- 
men,  with  knives  and  pistols;  quickly  and  lastly  the 
police  force  and  regular  soldiers  joined  in  with  their 
Martini  rifles.  It  was  a  combined  onslaught  of  four 
other  races  against  the  Armenians.  It  has  been  de- 
clared that  the  Armenians  were  in  armed  revolt 
against  the  government,  and  this  was  done  to  put  down 
the  revolution.     When  the  attack  was  made  against 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      277 

them,  we  fail  to  find  that  there  was  any  armed  re- 
sistance, so  far  as  we  can  learn.  If  the  Armenians 
were  premeditating  an  armed  attack  upon  the  Mus- 
snlmen,  we  never  could  find  it  out,  but  that  proves 
nothing  here  or  there,  as  missionaries  are  well  known 
not  to  sympathize  with  revolutionists. 

"  Badveli  Garabed  died  a  martyr;  his  life  being 
offered  him  three  times  if  he  would  deny  Christ.  He 
bore  noble  testimony  before  many  witnesses,  then 
fell  in  their  presence,  sealing  his  faith  and  testimony 
with  his  blood. 

"  Yours  affectionately," 

Fu7'tlier  Infoi*mation  about  Sivas  by  tlie  Missionaries  wJu>  wrote  to 
tlieir  friends  Nov.  12,  1895. 

"  The  cyclone  which  struck  on  the  l'2th  reached 
Marsovan  on  the  15th.  Don't  be  deceived  by  any  of 
the  silly  government  statements  which  attribute  all 
these  massacres  to  the  Armenians.  It  was  a  deliber- 
ate plan  on  the  part  of  the  government  to  punish  the 
Armenians.  The  Sultan  was  irritated  because  he 
was  forced  to  give  them  reforms,  so  he  has  had  7,000 
Armenians  killed  to  show  his  power  since  he  signed 
the  scheme  of  reform. 

**  The  killing  was  permitted  to  go  on  here  all 
last  week;  forty-six  w^ere  killed  Saturday,  November 
16;  sixteen  on  Sunday,  and  many  more  on  the  follow- 
ing day.  The  total  number  killed  is  about  1,200  Ar- 
menians and  ten  Turks. 

*'  It  is  a  fact  that  the  Kaimakam  of  Gurun  tele- 
graphed to  the  Yali  at  Sivas,  saying  in  effect  that  there 
is  not  an  Armenian  left  at  Gurun.  The  Armenians 
at  Sivas  made  no  resistance,  but  at  Gurun  they  tried 
to  defend  themselves  from  the  butchery,  and  suffered 
the  worse  for  it. 

"  In  order  to  have  an  excuse  for  attacking  the  Ar- 


278  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

menians  at  Sivas,  the  government  smashed  the  win- 
dows of  Turkish  shops  and  charged  it  to  the  Armen- 
ians. Food  is  scarce,  and  everything  was  carried  off 
from  the  Armenian  shops.  There  will  be  terrible 
suffering  all  over  this  country.'' 

Another  letter  from  Sivas,  according  to  the  Con- 
stantinople correspondent,  gives  many  details  which 
all  go  to  show  that  the  whole  movement  against  the 
Armenians  is  directly  traceable  to  the  head  of  the 
Turkish  government,  who  proclaimed  that  his  great 
desire  was  to  keep  always  in  view,  "  The  safeguard 
of  the  rights  of  the  people,  and  the  maintenance  of 
public  confidence." 

"What  cruel  mockery;  Trebizond,  Erzeroum, 
Bitlis,  Marash,  Harpoot  and  how  many  more  towns 
rise  up  and  point  the  finger  of  everlasting  scorn  and 
indignation  to  fix  on  Abdul  Hamid  Khan  the  stigma 
of  everlasting  infamy  !  The  deliberate  murder  of 
thousands  of  innocent  and  industrious  men,  the  ex- 
posure of  ten  times  that  number  of  women  and  chil- 
dren and  aged  persons  to  absolute  degradation  and 
destitution,  will  justify  the  name  of  Kanukiar  —  the 
Bloodletter  —  which  has  been  applied  to  the  head 
authority  of  the  Empire." 

The  Riot  in  Sivas. 

"  Last  week,  Monday,  November  11,  was  one  of 
the  loveliest  days  Sivas  ever  had.  Although  there 
were  many  rumors  of  trouble  afloat,  we  could  get  at 
nothing  which  seemed  to  have  any  greater  founda- 
tion than  the  fear  that  something  might  happen. 

"  I  went  unattended  to  the  boys'  school.  On  my 
way  to  school  that  afternoon,  I  met  a  group  of  ex- 
cited soldiers.     They  said  nothing  to  me,  but  their 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      279 

strangely  excited  manner  impressed  me  as  being  out 
of  the  usual  order.  When  I  began  my  class  work, 
the  boys,  instead  of  answering  my  questions,  broke 
forth  with  inquiries.  They  wanted  to  know  if  the 
soldiers  were  going  to  shoot  them,  and  if  they  were 
going  to  be  killed.  That  was  the  rumor  afloat.  1 
hushed  them  up  as  best  I  could,  and  told  them  it  was 
not  right  to  speak  of  such  things.  I  succeeded  in 
quieting  the  children,  but  went  home  full  of  anx- 
iety. 

'*  The  next  day,  Tuesday,  a  large  gang  of  Turkish 
workmen  gathered  in  our  street  to  continue  the  public 
work  of  building  up  some  walls  which  had  been  torn 
down  at  the  Vali's  orders,  for  the  purpose  of  widen- 
ing the  street.  Armenian  carpenters  were  employed 
on  our  building.  Nothing  out  of  the  ordinary  oc- 
curred until  the  workmen's  *  bread  tirae^  about  1 1 
o'clock,  was  finished. 

"  Then  all  the  Osmanli  (Turkish)  gang  sudden- 
ly raised  a  hue  and  cry;  each  one  grabbed  a  pick  or 
club,  anything  he  could  lay  his  hands  on,  and  a  wild 
rush  was  made  for  the  market-place.  The  air  was 
filled  with  yells  of  the  furious  men,  who  rushed  along 
madly. 

"  The  Protestant  pastor  remained  at  home  on  the 
day  before,  but  on  Tuesday  was  in  a  shop  when  the 
signal  for  the  raid  was  given.  A  perfect  cyclone  of 
marauders  rushed  in  and  clubbed  the  unsuspecting 
men  in  the  stores  to  death  before  they  could  offer  any 
resistance.  After  the  outbreak  there  was  not  a  sin- 
gle Armenian  place  of  business  left  in  the  market. 

"  No  list  of  the  dead  was  made  out,  and  none 
could  be.  The  victims  were  all  buried  in  an  immense 
trench  in  the  Armenian  burying-ground  two  days 
afterwards.  There  were  between  seven  and  eight 
hundred  bodies  thus  buried." 


280  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

MARSOVAN  AND  THE  ATROCITIES  THERE. 

Marsovan  has  25,000  population,  10,000  being  Ar- 
menians, and  the  remainder  Mohammedans.  Mar- 
sovan is  one  of  the  greatest  stations  of  the  American 
missionaries.  Anatolia  College  is  there ;  a  theological 
seminary  for  young  men;  and  a  seminary  for  girls. 
The  writer  was  the  pastor  of  the  Evangelical  Ar- 
menian church  there  till  he  was  banished,  for  the 
reasons  stated  in  the  sketch  of  him.  After  this  the 
Turks  burned  the  girls'  school;  they  tried  to  burn 
the  boys'  college  building  also,  but  did  not  succeed. 
Finally  they  several  times  massacred  the  Armenian 
Christians,  and  forced  many  to  accept  Mohammedan- 
ism. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  get  exact  information  about 
the  number  of  the  martyred  Christians  in  Marsovan, 
but  it  is  believed  that  in  that  missionary  station  about 
1,000  were  massacred  altogether.  The  richest  men 
among  the  congregation  were  murdered,  and  so 
thoroughly  plundered  that  their  children  are  left 
wholly  destitute;  and  the  lives  of  the  missionaries  are 
in  danger. 

CE8AREA  (KAISERIEH). 

The  writer  is  well  acquainted  with  this  city,  as  he 
was  the  pastor  at  Talas,  only  three  miles  away,  for 
years.  It  has  about  50,000  population,  one-third 
being  Christians;  a  few  hundred  Greeks  only,  but 
more  than  15,000  Armenians.  The  richest  and 
ablest  Armenians  live  in  that  city,  or  in  Constantino- 
ple, and  came  from  there;  its  people  are  the  leaders  of 


U  ATKH  PKI)l..  i.r. 


THE  TUKKISU  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     281 

the  Armenian  nation,  both  in  business  and  intellect. 
For  the  story  of  its  foundation,  see  "  The  Haigazian 
Dynasty,'^  under  King  Aram.  It  is  a  typical  Ar- 
menian city ;  and  has  several  great  Armenian  churches, 
with  flourishing  schools.  There  is  a  beautiful  evangel- 
ical church  also,  and  it  is  a  great  missionary  station, 
with  several  American  missionaries,  and  several  mis- 
sionary schools,  both  for  boys  and  for  girls. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Avedis  Yeretzian,  one  of  the  great- 
est of  scholars,  teachers,  and  preachers,  and  my  per- 
sonal friend,  was  martyred  in  that  city  during  the 
recent  atrocities.  He  was  shot  dead  in  his  own  house 
by  a  Mohammedan  mob,  then  his  wife  was  shot,  then 
his  son,  and  the  remainder  of  his  children  were  cap- 
tured by  the  mob.  About  3,000  Armenians  were 
killed  and  wounded  there,  besides  the  loss  of  property. 
The  Mohammedan  population  of  the  city  is  very 
savage;  side  by  side  in  the  same  city,  the  Christians 
are  rich,  refined,  intelligent,  and  the  Mohammedans 
poor,  lazy,  sensual,  and  cruel.  I  give  here  two  let- 
ters from  Cesarea. 

A  Private  Letter  from  a  Girl. 

Cesarea,  Turkey,  Dec.  31,  1895. 
My  Dear  Brother: — 

Before  the  massacre,  everybody  was  in  fear;  sev- 
eral families  would  gather  in  one  house  to  protect 
themselves,  and  all  the  Armenian  stores  were  closed 
for  twenty  days;  but  as  the  government  guaranteed 
that  there  would  be  no  danger,  and  told  everybody  to 
attend  to  their  business,  and  open  their  shops,  they 
did  so.     It  was  the  1 6th  of  T^ovember,  on  Saturday, 


282  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

that  all  opened  their  shops  again,  and  the  transaction 
of  business  commenced  in  full  force.  At  2  p.  m.,  at 
the  doors  of  the  market,  bugles  sounded,  and  several 
hundred  bashi-bazook  [irregular  soldiers]  were  at  the 
doors  of  the  bazaar,  every  one  of  them  having  in  his 
hands  stilettos,  swords,  yataghans,  guns,  revolvers, 
hammers,  axes,  hatchets,  sickles,  poniards,  daggers, 
and  heavy  sticks  with  twenty  or  thirty  nails  fastened 
to  them.  Then  they  blew  horns,  the  signal  to  start 
the  massacre.  Cries  were  heard,  "  First  kill,  cut,  and 
butcher  the  Giavours;  the  property  already  belongs 
to  us;  cut,  cut,  kill,  don^t  care  for  plundering  at  pres- 
ent." Then  they  rushed  into  the  market  and  slaugh- 
tered all  they  met.  Oh  !  you  can  imagine  what 
became  of  those  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  those  brutes. 
Alas  !  alas  !  how  unspeakable  !  They  butchered 
them  like  cattle ;  cut  their  heads  off  like  onions.  Some 
tried  to  run,  but  could  not,  others  tried  to  escape,  but 
were  brought  back  and  killed.  The  bazaar  was  full 
of  dead  bodies.  People  hid  themselves  among  the 
goods,  and  in  the  cellars,  and  were  saved ;  ten  or  fifteen 
days  after,  people  were  found  there  in  a  starving  con- 
dition, not  having  dared  to  come  out.  They  killed  in 
Avsharaghus  factory  thirty-eight  men;  in  Kayanjilar 
everybody  was  slain.  After  the  massacre  was  over, 
the  governor,  Ferick  Pasha,  sent  soldiers  around,  and 
they  discovered  many  people  hiding,  and  took  them 
back  to  the  government  house  (seray),  examined  their 
pockets  for  revolvers  and  knives,  and  not  finding  any, 
the  governor  sent  them  to  their  homes. 

They  plundered  the  bazaar  of  all  its  goods,  and 
then,  oh,  my  Lord  !  they  rushed  upon  the  houses  and 
upon  the  women's  Turkish  baths.  ...  I  can- 
not describe  this;  when  I  think  of  it,  my  whole  body 
trembles.  The  people  in  the  baths  were  killed  and 
wounded,  and  they  carried  away  the  young  girls;  every 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      283 

one  was  killed  that  they  came  in  contact  with.  The 
houses  were  plundered  of  all  their  contents,  and  build- 
ings were  torn  down,  and  houses  full  of  people  were 
burned.  Oh,  how  terrible  !  What  I  say  you  can- 
not imagine  to  be  so;  you  may  think  it  is  a  dream, 
because  your  eyes  have  not  seen  nor  your  ears  heard 
the  screams,  wailings,  weeping,  shrieks,  and  groan- 
ing; that  even  our  forefathers  have  not  heard,  but  of 
which  our  ears  are  full  day  and  night.  My  brother 
was  in  the  bazaar,  but  fortimately  he  had  occupied 
a  private  room,  where  he  was  safe. 

Some  of  the  kidnapped  girls  were  brought  back 
by  the  government,  but  most  of  them  were  wounded, 
and  half  dead  from  fright.  Thank  God,  we  are  safe, 
but  we  are  not  better  than  those  girls.  We  are  in 
Mr.  Wingate's  house,  where  many  lives  were  saved. 
He  carried  beds  and  clothing  to  the  people,  who  were 
stripped  of  all.  A  few  ^lussulmans  also  protected 
in  their  homes  some  Armenians;  for  example,  James 
Imuroglov,  Gojaki  Ogloo. 

Yeretzian  Avedis  Effendi's  house  is  ruined,  him- 
self, his  son,  and  wife  are  killed,  and  the  rest,  five  of 
them,  are  carried  away.  Our  block  and  their  block 
is  ruined.  They  butchered  Avjinury,  Yuzukji,  Dirn- 
hitza  and  carried  away  her  three  daughters,  but  later 
on  brought  two  of  them  back.  I  mentioned  them,  as 
you  know.  They  also  butchered  Yuzikji  Apraham 
and  his  wife  Gaga  Ilaji,  Gemerlkli  Ohanness,  Mus- 
taamelji  Gobra,  Terrzi  Artin,  Erzurumli,  servant  boy. 
Avedis  Ago  and  his  daughter  were  carried  away. 
Gussi  Hamimon's  mother  is  low.  Oh,  pity  the  intol- 
erable many,  many,  I  cannot  write  by  my  pen,  or  de- 
scribe with  my  tongue  the  terrible  sufferings.  O 
Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us  !  To  my  knowledge  there 
were  five  hundred  killed,  six  hundred  wounded;  many 
are  dying  from  their  wounds  and  fright.     Eight  hun- 


284  *   ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

dred  houses  are  plundered,  and  the  tenants  flocked 
to  the  churches.  I  cannot  write  one  hundredth  part 
of  what  happened. 

We  are  lost,  lost,  ruined,  no  work,  no  business, 
every  one  of  us  looking  for  safety.  Happy,  happy  be 
you  that  are  in  America  and  have  nothing  to  fear. 
They  say  to  me,  you  ought  to  be  with  your  brother 
in  America  now.  If  the  way  was  opened,  everybody 
would  like  to  go. 

If  you  are  not  in  good  circumstances  there,  you 
must  feel  satisfied  and  give  the  thanks  to  God  always. 
We  also  have  to  thank  Cfod  that  we  are  still  living. 
It  is  one  month  now  that  we  have  not  been  able  to 
go  out  in  the  streets.  O  Lord,  help  us.  Oh  !  what 
shall  we  come  to  ?  Oh,  my  dear  brother,  if  you  can 
help  us  in  any  way  please  do  so;  make  lectures,  get 
some  help;  everybody  is  dying  of  hunger.  I  cannot 
write  any  longer;  we  leave  all  to  your  conscience.  I 
do  not  write  this  letter  only  to  you,  but  to  all.  Do 
whatever  you  can  for  us,  we  are  in  a  terrible  condi- 
tion. T  thank  you,  my  brother,  for  the  money  that 
you  sent  to  me,  thank  you  very  much. 

We  send  our  best  regards  to  every  one  of  you.  I 
wrote  this  letter  with  the  tears  in  my  eyes.  We  beg 
of  you  to  write  us  good  letters.  Yaham,  the  little 
boy,  is  in  good  health.     We  are  all  well  including 

Your  sister, 

Letter  from  Cesar ea. 

Cesarea,  Ts'ov.  20,  1805. — While  the  Armenians 
were  engaged  in  their  business,  as  usual,  the  Turkish 
mob  fell  upon  them,  killing  600  defenseless  men  and 
wounding  1,000  more.  The  mob  divided  into  four 
parts.  The  first  part  plundered  the  stores,  the  second 
looted  the  houses,  the  third  secured  the  maidens  and 
young  brides,  wdiile  the  fourth,  fiends  incarnate,  at- 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      285 

tacked  the  public  baths.  These  human  devils  killed 
six  naked  women  in  the  presence  of  the  others,  snatch- 
ing their  babies  from  their  arms  and  bayoneting  the 
mothers.  The  shrieks  and  agonizing  cries  of  these 
poor  creatures  made  no  impression  upon  the  minds  of 
the  savage  Turks,  who  laughed  at  their  death  agonies. 
They  then  took  some  of  the  young  girls,  who  were 
with  their  mothers  at  the  bath,  and  dragged  them 
naked,  by  their  feet,  through  the  streets,  followed  by 
a  jeering  and  hooting  mob. 

The  Turks  who  attacked  the  houses  then  killed 
them  and  iired  the  houses.  The  cries  of  the  women, 
mingled  with  the  hoarse  shouts  of  the  Turks,  can  never 
be  forgotten.  The  men  who  survived  the  sword  were 
discovered,  taken  to  the  magistrate  and  searched,  but 
no  arms  were  found  in  their  possession,  not  even  a 
knife.  When  released,  and  allowed  to  return  to  their 
homes,  they  were  confronted  by  a  most  ghastly  pic- 
ture. Some  found  their  wives  dead,  others  horribly 
mutilated;  daughters  were  bleeding.  My  hand 
almost  fails  me  to  write  the  awful  particulars.  It  took 
three  or  four  days  to  remove  the  bodies  of  the  dead 
with  forty  carts.  Add  to  this  the  want,  the  desola- 
tion. Oh,  my  God,  for  how  long,  how  long  !  Whore 
are  those  Christian  powers  who  saved  African  slaves  ? 
Where  are  those  Christians  who  advocated  brotherly 
love  and  mercy,  sending  their  missionaries  to  teach 
us  ?     Are  they  deaf  to  our  piercing  cry  ? 

AINTAB  AND  ITS  HORRORS. 

The  writer  is  well  acquainted  with  Aintab,  and 
some  of  his  best  friends  live  there,  if  they  have  not 
been  killed.  It  has  about  40,000  population,  one- 
third  of  it  being  Armenian.  There  are  great  schol- 
ars among  them.     Central  Turkey  College  is  there. 


286  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

It  is  an  American  college,  but  most  of  the  professors 
are  native  Armenians,  graduates  of  Yale  College. 
There  is  also  a  woman's  American  College  and  a  hos- 
pital. The  Evangelical  Armenians  are  the  strongest; 
they  have  three  large  churches.  They  are  con- 
sidered to  be  the  richest  Evangelical  Armenians  in 
Turkey.  But  hundreds  of  them  were  killed,  wounded 
and  phmdered;  in  all  about  4,000  of  the  Armenian 
population  were  killed. 

A  Letter  from  Aintab,  November  23,  1895. 

Aintab  has  had  its  baptism  of  blood  and  fire,  and 
we  sit  in  grief  among  ruins.  We  had  been  hoping  that 
the  many  things  which  seemed  to  combine  for  our 
security  would  save  our  city  from  the  fury  of  the 
storm  which  is  desolating  so  many  places  about  us. 
Our  Christian  community  is  large  (about  one-fourth 
of  the  whole  population),  and  the  Christians,  as  a 
class,  are  exceptionally  intelligent  and  influential; 
the  leading  Moslems  of  the  city  are  intelligent  and 
able  men,  and  have  shown  themselves  to  a  degree 
tolerant  and  even  friendly  to  Christians;  the  gov- 
ernor has  seemed  disposed,  beyond  most  Turkish  of- 
ficials, to  respect  the  rights  of  Christians.  There  is 
a  considerable  number  of  foreign  residents  sure  to 
be  witnesses  of  any  violence  done  to  Christians.  The 
college  and  hospital  have  for  years  commanded  a 
powerful  influence  in  the  city;  the  hospital  especially 
has  the  good-will  of  all  classes;  the  college,  its  stu- 
dents and  teachers  were  no  doubt  regarded  by-  many 
with  much  suspicion  on  account  of  the  latent  antag- 
onisms inevitably  existing  between  progressive  and 
conservative  ideas,  but  personal  relations  were,  so 
far  as  I  know,  always  friendly.     Another  thing  in  our 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      287 

favor  has  been  the  fact  that  the  Christians  of  Aintab 
have  given  very  little  countenance  to  the  ultra-revo- 
lutionists, who  have  no  doubt  provoked  trouble  in 
some  places,  lielying  upon  all  these  things,  we  had 
for  nearly  three  weeks  been  hearing  reports  of  fighting 
and  massacre  at  Zeitoon,  Marash,  and  Oorfa,  and  other 
places,  with  comparatively  little  anxiety  for  ourselves. 
It  is  true  we  were  freipiently  hearing  of  fearful 
threats  and  warnings  of  what  the  Moslems  were  pre- 
paring to  do  in  Aintab,  but  we  had  got  hardened  to 
that  sort  of  thing,  and  regarded  it  as  largely  the  in- 
vention of  cowardly  roughs  to  terrify  those  whom  they 
did  not  dare  attack.  The  most  alarming  thing  in  the 
situation  was  that  the  government  was  disarming  the 
Christians,  and  at  the  same  time  giving  out  rifles  and 
ammunition  to  Moslems.  This,  however,  was  at- 
tributed to  an  exaggerated  fear  of  a  Christian  rising, 
of  which  they  profess  to  have  information. 

Mefintime  the  Moslems  liable  to  military  service 
were  called  out  and  equipped  and  hurried  off  toward 
Zeitoon,  where  it  was  reported  that  the  Christians 
were  in  rebellion.  This,  no  doubt,  was  the  occasion 
of  intense  irritation,  and  both  the  soldiers  and  their 
friends  were  saying,  "  If  we  must  fight  Christians  we 
will  begin  with  those  close  at  hand."  Under  these 
circumstances  the  native  (^hrisdans  became  very 
anxious,  and  made  such  preparations  for  defense  as 
circumstances  permitted,  at  the  same  time  keeping  as 
quiet  as  possible,  and  avoiding  all  controversy  and  al- 
tercations with  the  Moslems.  The  government  in- 
creased the  police  force  in  the  city,  and  held  a  con- 
siderable force  of  troops  at  the  barracks  near  the 
town,  and  the  governor  and  principal  men  seemed  to 
be  making  much  effort  to  quiet  the  people.  Several 
considerable  tumults  had  occurred  and  been  promptly 
suppressed    without    bloodshed;    so    day    after    day 


288  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

dragged  on,  each  hour  increasing  the  hope  that  we 
should  tide  over  the  crisis. 

Saturday  morning,  November  16,  more  than 
three  weeks  after  the  first  riot  in  Marash,  at  about 
half  past  seven,  just  as  we  were  rising  from  break- 
fast, our  people  came  in  with  white  faces  saying,  "  The 
day  of  judgment  has  come  in  the  city."  We  hastened 
to  the  door,  and  sure  enough  the  mob  was  at  work; 
all  the  west  and  south  part  of  the  city  seemed  to  be 
in  an  uproar;  crowds  of  people  rushing  in  every 
direction,  roofs  covered  with  excited  men,  women,  and 
children ;  the  strange  mingling  of  cries  of  fear,  anger, 
and  defiance,  with  occasional  gun  and  pistol  shots, 
made  an  exhibition  of  the  most  fearful  tumult  and 
confusion. 

Already  troops  were  hurrying  forward,  and  soon 
a  company  of  some  sixty  soldiers  were  stationed  in 
front  of  the  Girls'  Seminary,  with  pickets  out  to 
cover  the  approaches  to  the  hospital  and  college.  Dr. 
Shepherd  and  Mr.  Sanders  mounted  their  horses  and 
hastened  to  the  hospital  and  seminary,  where  they 
remained  until  the  rioting  ceased.  The  college  is 
about  half  a  mile  west  of  the  seminary  and  hospital, 
and  commands  a  full  view  of  these  buildings,  and  of 
the  whole  west  end  of  the  city,  where  most  of  the 
rioting  occurred. 

What  we,  who  were  looking  on,  saw  from  this 
point  was  the  narrow  streets  densely  crowded  with  in- 
tensely excited  people,  now  and  then  a  rush  made  upon 
some  house  or  gate,  the  rally  of  defenders  on  the 
roofs,  am  one;  whom  women  were  often  foremost,  using 
stones,  clubs,  and  sometimes  guns  and  pistols  as  best 
they  could.  Sometimes  the  attack  is  beaten  off,  and 
the  assailants  withdraw  to  organize  a  new  assault, 
sometimes  a  gate  or  wall  is  broken  down,  and  then 
the  noise  of  conflict  subsides  and  the  work  of  mas- 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     289 

sacre  and  plunder  begins.  Later  on,  long  lines  of 
people  moving  off  to  their  homes  laden  with  plunder, 
and  later  still  the  flames  and  smoke  rising  from  the 
burning  houses. 

What  we  heard  was  the  indescribable  roar  of  the 
mob,  pierced  by  the  sharp  reports  of  pistols  and  guns, 
with  now  and  then  shrieks  of  agony  and  fear,  and 
shouts  of  defiance  or  command,  and  over  all,  and  most 
horrible  of  all,  the  loud  shrill  "  Zullghat,"  (wedding 
cry)  very  like  the  cry  of  our  northern  loons  prolonged 
and  sharpened,  raised  by  Turkish  women  crowded  on 
their  roofs  and  cheering  on  their  men  to  attack.  The 
massacre  and  pillage  began  in  the  markets,  and  in 
those  parts  of  the  city  where  Christians'  houses,  sur- 
rounded by  Moslem  neighbors,  offered  easy  points  of 
attack;  these  places  having  been  looted,  the  mob 
moved  on  towards  what  are  known  as  the  Christian 
quarters  of  the  town.  There  the  resistance  became 
more  obstinate ;  in  two  of  these  quarters  the  old  street 
gates  were  still  in  use,  by  shutting  which,  the  district 
enclosed  becomes  a  small  fortified  community  capable 
of  making  a  strong  resistance  to  an  organized  mob. 
The  assailants  were  at  last  beaten  off  and  arrested. 

Under  such  general  conditions  the  storm  of  mob 
violence  raged  on  without  much  abatement  till  the 
middle  of  the  afternoon,  when  the  tumult  gradually 
subsided,  and  night  at  last  brought  quiet,  except  in 
the  vicinity  of  burning  houses,  where  the  uproar  went 
on  till  near  midnight.  By  morning,  arrangements 
seemed  to  have  been  made  which  gave  us  hope  that 
order  would  be  maintained;  the  guard  for  our  mis- 
sion premises  had  been  increased,  and  the  soldiers 
posted  at  intervals  around  the  Christian  quarters  of 
the  city.  Very  early  in  the  morning  of  the  17th, 
crowds,  evidently  eager  to  share  the  plunder,  were 
seen  hurrying  towards  the  citv  from  every  direction. 
19 


290  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

The  soldiers  met  and  turned  them  back,  and  even 
beat  some  of  them  and  chased  them  off.  They  soon 
returned,  however,  increased  in  numbers,  and  being 
joined  by  friends  from  the  city,  became  very  turbu- 
lent. About  noon  we  saw  through  our  glass  an  of- 
ficer, apparently  a  captain,  ride  forward  into  a  mob, 
and  address  them  at  some  length;  we  could  not  hear 
what  he  said,  but  immediately,  without  any  show  of 
opposition  from  any  one,  the  whole  crowd  came  pell- 
mell  with  the  soldiers  into  the  city.  This  was  at 
the  southwest  corner  of  the  town,  and  immediately 
under  our  eyes.  At  the  same  time  much  the  same 
thing  was  occurring  at  the  northwest  corner;  then  for 
an  hour  chaos  was  let  loose  again,  and  the  horrors  of 
the  previous  day  were  repeated,  only  that  this  time 
the  Christians  were  prepared,  and,  being  in  a  strong 
position,  w^ere  generally  able  to  beat  off  their  assail- 
ants. At  one  point  of  the  line  of  defense  were 
a  few  Moslem  houses,  and  we  were  delighted  to  learn 
that  the  men  heartily  and  bravely  joined  in  the  de- 
fense with  their  neighbors;  the  gallantry  of  this  act 
was  somewhat  marred,  however,  by  the  demand  which 
they  made  the  next  day  for  a  large  sum  of  money  for 
their  service;  these  men  actually  demanded  and  re- 
ceived about  $5  apiece  for  this  neighborly  help. 

When  it  became  apparent  that  the  mob  could  not 
force  their  way  into  the  places  held  by  the  besieged, 
the  soldiers,  perhaps  having  received  new  orders,  re- 
sumed a  show  of  activity,  fired  a  few  shots  into  the 
air,  and  drove  the  mob  out  of  the  city  and  dispersed 
them;  this  is  the  last  serious  fighting  that  has  oc- 
curred up  to  the  present  time,  though  local  tumults 
have  broken  out  frequently,  several  houses  have  been 
pillaged  and  burned,  and  two  Christians  at  least  were 
shot  while  being  conducted  through  the  streets  by 
soldiers.     Strict  military  rule  is  now  established,  and 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     291 

special  care  is  taken  to  safeguard  the  lives  of  property 
of  foreigners.  We  are  kept  under  very  close  re- 
striction, and  not  allowed  to  visit  the  city  except  for 
special  objects,  and  then  under  a  strong  guard.  The 
amount  of  damage  we  can  only  estimate ;  as  nearly  as 
we  can  judge,  the  figures  will  be  about  200  killed, 
400  wounded,  nearly  all  tlie  Christian  shops  and  250 
houses  pillaged,  and  a  considerable  number  burned. 
Some  1,000  men  who  in  the  first  panic  took  refuge  in 
khans  and  mosques  are  still  held  as  prisoners,  for 
purposes  which  we  can  only  surmise. 

P.  S.  Dec.  17.  Quiet  has  for  the  most  part 
been  maintained  under  strict  military  rule.  No  Chris- 
tian can  yet  venture  out  vdthout  armed  escort,  and 
there  are  not  wanting  signs  that  there  is  waiting  and 
even  expectation  of  another  signal  from  above.  The 
government,  however,  seems  to  be  trying  to  restore 
order  and  confidence.  We  are  glad  to  say  that  we 
have  heard  of  no  cases  of  special  violence  or  abuse 
offered  to  women. 

The  above-named  prisoners  have  been  gradually 
released,  till  now  there  are  only  some  six  of  the  princi- 
pal Christians  still  in  confinement.  The  number  of 
killed  just  now  must  be  set  down  at  over  400;  the 
butchery  in  the  markets  where  the  first  attacks  began 
far  exceeded  our  belief."  A  great  number  of  bodies 
were  thrown  together  into  some  distilleries,  and  these 
buildings  set  on  fire  and  burned  to  the  ground,  thus 
removing  for  a  time  much  of  the  terrible  evidence  of 
the  extent  of  the  massacre.  The  attack  being  made  in 
the  morninj}:  and  beginning  in  the  markets,  it  happened 
that  the  killed  are  about  wholly  from  the  "  bread-win- 
ners "  among  the  Christians.  As  a  result,  there  are 
now  in  Aintab  more  than  4,000  people  dependent  on 
charity  for  daily  bread,  and  most  of  those  to  whom 
they  would  naturally  look  for  aid  are  utterly  impov- 


292  ARJVIENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

ei'ished;  the  outlook  for  tlie  winter  is  simply  appall- 
ing. We  appeal  for  aid  speedily  in  the  name  of  hu- 
manity. 

THE  CITY  OF  BIRIJIK  AND  THE  ATROCITIES. 

The  city  of  Birijik  is  on  the  shores  of  the  Euphra- 
tes; it  has  a  beautiful  appearance  from  the  other  side 
of  the  river.  The  Mohammedan  population  there  are 
very  wild  and  ignorant. 

The  Massaci'e  at  Birijik  {Province  of  Aleppo). 

Birijik  had  about  300  Christian  houses,  or  say 
about  1,000  souls,  in  the  midst  of  the  Mussulman  pop- 
ulation of  about  9,000  souls.  After  the  massacre  at 
Oorfa  on  the  27th  of  October,  1895,  the  authorities 
at  Birijik  told  the  Armenians  that  the  Muslims  were 
afraid  of  them,  and  that  therefore  they  (the  Armen- 
ians) must  surrender  to  the  government  any  arms 
that  they  possessed.  This  was  done,  the  most  rigid 
search  being  instituted  to  assure  the  authorities  that 
nothing  whatever  in  the  way  of  arms  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  Armenians.  This  disarmament  caused 
no  little  anxiety  to  the  Armenians,  since  the  Muslim 
population  was  very  generally  armed,  and  was  con- 
stantly adding  to  its  arms.  In  fact,  during  the  months 
of  November  and  December  the  Christians  have  kept 
within  their  houses  because  the  danger  of  appearing 
upon  the  streets  was  very  great. 

Troops  were  called  out  by  the  government  to  pro- 
tect the  people.  Since  the  soldiers  had  come  to  pro- 
tect the  Christians,  the  Christians  were  required  to 
furnish  animals  for  them  to  carry  their  goods.  Then 
they  were  required  to  furnish  them  beds  and  carpets 
to  make  them  more  comfortable.  Finally  they  were 
required  to  furnish  the  soldiers  with  food,  and  they 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     203 

were  reduced  to  a  state  bordering  on  destitution  by 
these  increasing  demands. 

The  end  came  on  the  first  of  January,  1896,  when 
the  news  of  the  massacre  of  several  thousands  of  Chris- 
tians at  Oorfa  by  the  soldiers  appointed  to  guard  them 
incited  the  troops  at  Birijik  to  imitate  this  crime.  The 
assault  on  the  Christian  houses  commenced  at  about 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  continued  until  night- 
fall. The  soldiers  were  aided  by  the  Muslims  of  the 
city  in  the  terrible  work.  The  object  at  first  seemed 
to  be  mainly  plunder,  but  after  the  plunder  had  been 
secured  the  soldiers  seemed  to  make  a  systematic 
search  for  men,  to  kill  those  who  were  unwilling  to 
accept  Mohammedanism.  The  cruelty  used  to  force 
men  to  become  ^luslims  was  terrible.  In  one  case 
the  soldiers  found  some  twenty  people,  men,  women, 
and  children,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  a  sort  of  cave. 
They  dragged  them  out  and  killed  all  the  men  and 
boys,  because  they  would  not  become  Muslims.  After 
cutting  down  one  old  man  who  had  thus  refused,  they 
put  live  coals  upon  his  body,  and  as  he  was  writhing 
in  torture,  they  held  a  Bible  before  him,  and  asked 
him  mockingly  to  read  them  some  of  the  promises  in 
which  he  had  trusted.  Others  were  thrown  into  the 
river  while  still  alive,  after  having  been  cruelly 
wounded.  The  women  and  children  of  this  party 
were  loaded  up  like  goods  upon  the  backs  of  porters 
and  carried  off  to  the  houses  of  Muslims.  Christian 
girls  were  eagerly  sought  after,  and  much  quarreling 
occurred  over  the  question  of  their  division  among 
their  captors.  Every  Christian  house  except  two, 
claimed  to  be  owned  by  Turks,  was  plundered.  Nine- 
ty-six men  are  known  to  have  been  killed,  or  about 
half  of  the  adult  Christian  men.  The  others  have 
become  Mussulmans  to  save  their  lives,  so  that  there 
is  not  a  single  Christian  left  in  Birijik  to-day.     The 


294  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Armenian  Church  has  been  made  into  a  mosque,  and 
the  Protestant  Church  into  a  Medresse  Seminary. 
—[Dr.  Dillon. 

OORFA  AND  ITS  ATROCITIES. 

Oorfa,  the  old  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  where  Abra- 
ham, the  old  patriarch  of  the  Bible,  was  born,  was 
called  Edessa  in  the  time  of  Christ.  I  have  told  the 
story  of  King  Abgar  and  his  conversion  in  the  his- 
torical part  of  this  book.  It  had  about  50,000  pop- 
ulation, about  20,000  of  whom  were  Armenians  be- 
fore the  massacres.  Out  of  that  number  8,000  were 
slaughtered,  according  to  Mr.  Fitzmaurice,  the  British 
vice-consul  who  returned  from  Oorfa  to  Constantino- 
ple on  March  21.  The  Evangelical  Armenian  pastor, 
the  Rev.  Hagop  Abuhayatian,  was  also  martyred.  I 
knew  him  personally.  He  was  educated  in  Germany, 
a  man  of  great  ability;  a  great  scholar,  and  a  great  and 
forcible  preacher. 

A  Letter  from  Oorfa,  Jan.  28,  1896. 
Dear  Friend: — 

Your  only  remaining  brother  sends  you  a  letter, 
but  no  letters  can  begin  to  explain  the  sad  state  of  this 
city.  The  massacre  of  Dec.  28  and  29  has  left 
all  homes  except  Catholics  and  Syrians  entirely 
empty  of  any  comforts.  Many  families  have  not 
one  bed  even;  all  cooking  utensils,  clothing,  bed- 
ding, carpets,  etc.,  were  taken.  Most  have  a  little 
zakhere  left,  though  some  have  not  that.  We  are 
feeding  about  175  of  the  most  needy,  and  more  will 
come  to  us  every  week.  The  loss  by  death  is  between 
4,000  and  5,000.  Our  pastor,  the  Rev.  Hagop  Ab- 
ouhayatian.  Dr.  Kivorc,  and  brother  Harotoun,  Sar- 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     21*5 

kis  Varjebed  Chubukian  and  brother  and  son,  Garabed 
Rouniian,  Habbourjou  Avedis  and  brother  Sarkis,  old 
sexton  (iarabed  and  other  sexton  Bogos,  Ma  jar  Kiv- 
orc  and  brother  Bogos  and  Berber  Monofa  and  two 
sons,  Eskejiyan  ^larderos,  Zarman  Roomian's  three 
sons,  are  some  of  the  dead.  In  all,  our  Protestant 
dead  are  115.  Some  of  our  people  perished  in  the 
Gregorian  Church,  where  1,500  or  2,000  went  for 
refuge  Saturday  night,  and  on  Sunday  were  mur- 
dered or  burned,  very  few  escaping.  It  was  the  most 
awful  of  all  the  terrible  events  of  those  two  days. 

Thank  God,  two  hundred  and  forty  were  saved 
by  coming  to  me;  sixty  of  them  were  men.  I  could 
not  keep  the  men  in  my  house  or  yard,  because  it  was 
forbidden  by  the  guards,  but  I  hid  them  elsewhere, 
and  fed  them  for  three  or  four  days.  The  govern- 
ment carefully  protected  me,  and  killed  as  many  of 
my  friends  as  possible.  We  have  our  house  and  all 
the  schoolrooms  full  of  the  wounded  and  the  most 
forlorn. 

Our  Oorfa  redeefs  leave  to-morrow;  we  have 
new  soldiers  now  for  guard  of  the  city,  and  Christians 
especially.  Oorfa  redeefs  have  been  poor  guards, 
and  but  for  them  the  awful  work  would  not  have 
been  accomplished.  The  pastor  of  Severek,  the  Rev. 
Marderos,  was  killed.  The  Rev.  Vartan  remains 
alive  in  Adayaman.  Both  in  Severek  and  Adayaman 
the  number  of  the  killed  was  very  great.  In  Birijik 
about  two  hundred  were  killed,  and  all  remaining  have 
become  Moslems;  they  have  been  circumcised. 

In  Aintab  about  three  hundred  were  killed,  847 
shops  plundered  and  417  houses. 

During  our  first  disturbance,  six  to  seven  hundred 
shops  here  were  plundered,  and  about  175  houses. 
Then  the  Christians  used  arms  to  defend  themselves. 
Since  then  all  arms  have  been  taken  by  the  govern- 


296  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

ment  from  the  Christians,  and  the  leaders  were  forced 
to  sign  a  paper  stating  the  city  as  "in  peace  and  har- 
mony, thanks  to  the  rulers,"  etc. ;  twenty-five  signed  it, 
and  now  almost  all  of  these  have  been  killed.  Our 
pastor  signed  for  Protestants. 

Only  two  of  the  Gregorian  priests  remain,  and 
they  are  wounded.  The  bishop  is  alive,  but  feeble, 
and  does  not  work  publicly  now.  Their  state  is  very 
sad.  We  desire  your  prayers,  and  the  aid  of  all  who 
can  give  us  help  by  money  at  this  time. 

Sincerely  your  friend, 

P.  S.  Your  brother  asks  you  to  send  a  letter  to 
him  by  me. 

DIARBEKIR  AND   ITS  STORY. 

Diarbekir  (see  the  historical  part  for  its  founda- 
tion) has  about  40,000  population.  Nearly  half  of 
them  are  Christians,  but  not  all  of  them  are  Arme- 
nians. There  are  Chaldeans  also.  The  Armenian 
population  numbered  about  12,000,  of  which  5,000 
were  killed  during  the  recent  atrocities. 

A  Letter  from  Diarbekir,  Nov.  20,  1895. 

My  Dear  Sir: — 

After  salutation,  I  offer  my  thanks  to  God  that 
after  great  dangers  and  tribulation  we  have  reached 
the  present  time.  God's  will  be  done.  How  can  I 
describe  the  horrors  in  our  city  to  you  ?  Can  any  pen 
or  any  language  tell  them  ?  ]N'o,  but  I  shall  try  to 
write  at  least  a  very  short  description  of  them.  But 
who  knows  if  this  letter  will  reach  you,  because  of  the 
letters  we  write,  very  few  reach  you,  and  very  few  of 
your  letters  reach  us,  since  the  government  has  control 
of  the  mail,  and  it  is  the  government  that  persecutes 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     207 

us.  Our  age  is  a  peculiar  age.  God  look  at  our 
misery  and  save  us. 

How  liappy  were  those  who  were  martyred  on 
Nov.  1,  and  have  gone  to  their  reward.  The  atrocities 
which  happened  here  on  November  1,  2,  3,  cannot  be 
matched  in  the  history  of  the  civilized  world.  1  do 
not  think  they  can  be  in  that  of  heathen  lands,  where 
the  people  are  barbarous. 

When  I  write  these  lines  to  you,  I  hardly  know 
what  I  am  writing;  the  darkness  of  Egypt  covers  all 
around  me.  The  former  millionaires  in  the  city  have 
nothing  and  are  begging  bread.  Nov.  1  was  a 
black  day  for  the  Armenians.  Many  were  separated 
from  their  loved  ones,  even  parents  from  their  chil- 
dren. Many  merchants  and  rich  people  were  so  thor- 
oughly plundered  and  stripped  that  they  are  literally 
left  naked  and  hungry,  and  numbers  have  been  put 
to  unspeakable  tortures  by  the  Turks  and  Kurds. 
Nov.  1  was  Friday;  it  was  about  noon  when  the 
Mohammedans  came  out  from  their  mosques.  The 
native  Turks,  the  Kurds  who  were  brought  from 
outside,  and  the  soldiers  all  united,  swords,  pistols, 
guns,  axes,  and  clubs  in  their  hands,  fell  upon  the  Ar- 
menians in  the  market  place  or  business  place,  cut 
them  to  pieces,  and  plundered  what  they  had.  If  they 
had  been  all  killed  by  bullets  it  would  have  been  a 
sudden  death,  and  easier.  But  they  cut  them  to  pieces 
bit  by  bit  with  their  axes,  and  made  holes  in  the  bodies 
with  their  swords. 

When  they  were  killing  the  Armenians,  they  were 
repeating  the  following  words,  "  Bring  testimony  to 
prophet  Mohammed.  Our  Sultan  ordered  us  to  kill 
these  heathen  dogs,  the  Armenians.'^  The  governor 
of  the  city,  and  all  other  officials,  with  the  commander 
of  the  soldiers,  during  the  time  of  the  atrocities  were 
sitting  near  the  great  mosque,  and  while  listening  to 


298  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

the  cries  and  screams  of  the  martyred  Armenians, 
they  were  laughing  and  joking  with  great  pleasure, 
and  ordering  the  soldiers  to  carry  the  most  valuable 
things  to  their  houses. 

After  they  had  killed  everybody,  and  plundered 
everything  in  the  business  place,  they  turned  to  the 
residences  where  Armenians  lived,  and  began  to  bum 
and  kill.  Some  of  the  soldiers  went  to  the  tops  of 
the  minarets  or  high  towers,  and  began  to  shoot  the 
Armenians  from  there.  What  a  pitiful  scene  was  the 
condition  of  the  Armenian  ladies,  who  were  running 
from  house  to  house,  from  street  to  street,  and  were 
shot  dead,  and  their  children  left  orphans.  During 
the  three  days'  massacre  4,000  Armenians  were  killed, 
and  the  burning  of  the  houses  and  stores  continued 
twenty-four  hours.  From  the  gate  of  the  mosque 
to  the  place  where  they  make  saddles,  and  from  the 
twin  caravansary  to  the  new  caravansary,  from 
Sheik  Uatad  to  Melik  Ahmed,  all  the  buildings,  1,400 
stores,  were  burnt  and  turned  to  ashes.  There  are 
other  stores  also  which  were  not  burnt,  but  everything 
was  taken  from  them.  The  stores  where  goldsmiths 
worked  every  article  is  taken  from. 

When  the  Armenians  go  among  the  ruins  to  see 
if  they  can  find  any  article,  they  are  forbidden;  and 
if  some  one  manages  to  find  anything,  the  Moham- 
medans take  it  from  him,  cursing  him,  and  calling 
him  a  heathen  dog  at  the  same  time. 

When  we  come  to  the  residences  near  your  house, 
from  the  house  of  Darakji  to  the  covered  place  of 
Sheytan  aglou,  all  are  destroyed;  from  Alo-Pasha 
bath  to  the  Jemil  Pasha  Palace,  all  destroyed.  But 
the  church  of  the  Patrees  is  not  destroyed.  St.  Sar- 
kis's  church  was  plundered  and  afterwards  burned. 
Before  the  church  was  burnt,  they  killed  the  priests, 
and  unspeakable  violations  took  place  in  the  church. 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     299 

In  that  quarter  half  of  the  population  were  killed, 
and  the  other  half,  who  survive,  are  naked,  bare- 
footed, hungry,  and  are  begging  bread. 

Now  the  government  pretends  to  give  bread  to 
the  hungry,  but  nothing  is  given,  and  those  who  have 
a  little  give  to  the  others  who  have  nothing;  but  after 
a  few  days  nothing  will  be  left  to  eat.  Thank  the 
Lord,  the  Kurds  went  out  of  the  city.  But  it  is  twenty 
days  now  since  the  massacre  took  place,  and  nobody 
dares  to  go  out  to  the  streets. 

We  have  no  stores,  no  money,  nothing  to  eat. 
Though  my  personal  house  was  not  robbed,  but  I  have 
ten  orphans  whose  fathers  and  mothers  were  killed; 
I  am  taking  care  of  them.  We  have  a  little;  we  shall 
eat  that,  and  see  what  the  Lord  will  provide. 

From  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tomy's  house  to  the  church 
of  the  Evangelical  people  all  the  houses  were  burned. 
Hovhanness's  loss  is  about  $1,000.  Those  who  hid 
themselves  in  Konsol  Khan  and  in  the  church  of  the 
Patrees  escaped  death.  But  every  one  who  esca})ed 
was  left  hungry  and  thirsty  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
days  in  their  places  of  confinement,  because  they  were 
afraid  of  going  out. 

All  the  suburban  towns  and  villages  were  totally 
destroyed.  In  Sevorag  both  the  Armenian  church 
and  the  Evangelical  Armenian  church  were  destroyed, 
and  only  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  persons  were  left 
alive.  The  monastery  of  Argen  was  destroyed,  and 
the  teachers  and  all  the  inmates  were  killed. 

They  burnt  the  church  of  Ali-Punar  and  killed 
the  priest.  From  that  place  only  five  or  ten  persons 
were  left  alive.  Your  brother  at  Kitibel  with  all 
his  family  are  killed,  and  both  the  churches  are  burned. 
They  forced  the  ministers  to  accept  the  Mohammedan 
religion;  on  refusal  all  three  were  killed,  the  Rev. 
Abosh,  the  Rev.  Khidershap,  and  the  priest.       All 


300  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

who  were  left  alive  at  Kitibel  are  only  about  forty 
persons.  Afram's  brother  Kisho  with  all  his  family 
were  killed.  At  Kenjil  nobody  is  left.  At  Kara 
Bash  only  fifty  persons  are  left  alive.  The  village 
of  Satou  is  entirely  out  of  existence.  In  all  this 
province  all  the  towns  and  villages  are  destroyed,  and 
the  people  are  killed,  except  the  village  of  Haziro, 
which  is  not  destroyed,  and  the  reason  is  that  a  Turk, 
Sevdim  Beg,  did  not  permit  the  Kurds  and  the  Turks 
to  destroy  it. 

What  will  become  of  us  hereafter  we  do  not  know. 
We  are  still  in  danger,  but  we  trust  first  in  God,  then 
in  such  friends  as  you.  My  personal  damage  is  $5,000 
and  now  is  the  time  to  show  us  sympathy  and  help  us. 

If  you  cannot  do  it  yourself  personally,  can  you 
not  tell  the  people  of  the  United  States  of  America 
to  help  us  and  relieve  our  suffering  ? 

Sincerely  yours, 

TREBIZOND  AND  ITS  ATROCITIES. 

Trebizond  is  built  on  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea, 
and  is  a  part  of  Armenia.  The  population  is  estimated 
at  40,000;  only  10,000  are  Christians;  perhaps  about 
half  of  them  are  Armenians,  and  nearly  half  of  the 
Armenians  were  killed  and  wounded  during  the  recent 
savageries.  Mr.  Chelton,  who  was  going  to  Armenia 
to  organize  consulates,  was  in  Trebizond,  saw  the  mas- 
sacre of  Christians,  and  reported  to  the  government 
at  Washington : — 

"  Trebizond,  Oct.  9,  1895. — Many  Armenians 
were  killed  here  in  conflicts  yesterday  with  Turks, 
^o  attempt  was  made  to  stop  the  massacre  of  the  Ar- 
menians. The  Turks  were  armed,  and  the  number  of 
troops  present  here  is  small.     It  is  even  stated  that 


w'iii^' 


ws,- 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      301 

soldiers  took  part  in  the  slaughter,  and  in  the  pillage 
which  accompanied  it." 

"  London,  Oct.  17,  1895.— The  '  Daily  News  ' 
publishes  a  dispatch  from  Constantinople  giving  a  de- 
scription by  an  eye-witness  of  the  rioting  at  Trebizond. 
He  says  that  four  separate  Moslem  mobs  surrounded 
the  Armenian  quarters  at  eleven  o^clock  on  the  morn- 
ing of  Oct.  8,  and  then  began  to  pillage  the  shops. 
Being  opposed,  they  fired  on  the  Armenians,  and  soon 
a  general  massacre  began. 

"  Soldiers  joined  the  mob  in  firing  on  the  Arme- 
nians and  in  pillaging  the  shops  and  houses.  The  scene 
continued  until  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  noth- 
ing was  left  to  pillage  and  nobody  remained  to  be 
killed.  The  mob  then  began  to  disperse.  The  better 
class  of  Turks  did  their  best  to  protect  the  lives  of  the 
Armenians.  They  sheltered  the  women  and  children 
and  many  men  in  their  houses.  The  mob  attacked 
only  the  orthodox  Armenians,  leaving  Catholics 
alone." 

An  Armenian  Massacre.    Money  Cabled  to  London  by  the  Local 
Relief  Association,  Bee.  SI,  1895. 

"  Recent  letters  telling  of  the  massacres  in  various 
Armenian  cities  contain  information  that  helps  to  ex- 
plain many  points  in  the  awful  outbreak  of  so-called 
Mohammedan  fanaticism.  A  letter  from  Trebizond 
says : — 

"^Bahri  Pasha,  governor  of  Van,  started  to  come 
to  Constantinople,  and  it  was  learned  that  he  was 
bringing  with  him  four  of  the  fairest  young  maidens 
of  Sassoun,  who  had  been  spared  in  the  massacre, 
to  make  an  acceptable  present  of  them  to  his  Sultan. 
This  aroused  the  Armenian  people  of  Trebizond  to  a 
frenzy,  and  it  was  impossible  to  restrain  the  young 


302  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

men,  the  more  daring  of  whom  fired  upon  Bahri 
Pasha,  wounding  him.  But  he  carried  out  his  mis- 
sion to  Constantinople,  and  was  honored  with  the  high- 
est decoration  and  appointed  governor  of  Adana. 

"^Afterward  the  pasha  of  Trebizond,  calling  twelve 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  city,  demanded  that  they 
should  hand  over  the  young  men  who  attacked  the 
governor,  and  gave  them  just  a  few  hours  in  which  to 
carry  out  his  orders.  The  next  day  they  answered  him 
that  the  government  had  no  means  of  finding  the  men 
out. 

"  '  When  the  mails  had  arrived,  and  the  people 
went  toward  the  postoffice,  the  trumpet  was  sounded 
three  times,  and  both  the  soldiers  and  the  mob  rushed 
upon  the  people.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  the 
horror  of  the  scene  —  the  roar  of  the  murderers,  like 
that  of  wild  beasts,  the  shrieks  of  the  women  in  the 
houses  from  whose  arms  their  husbands  and  sons  were 
torn  and  murdered  before  their  eyes,  and  universal 
tumult,  added  to  the  sighs  and  groans  of  the  dying. 
And  this  we  know  is  only  one,  and  not  even  the  most 
terrible  of  the  massacres.'  " 

BAIBURT. 

"  Constantinople,  Oct.  28,  1895. — Another  mas- 
sacre of  Armenians,  accompanied  by  the  outraging  of 
women,  is  reported  to  have  occurred  recently  in  the 
districts  of  Baiburt,  between  Erzeroum  and  Trebizond. 
According  to  the  news  received  here,  a  mob  of  about 
500  Mussulmans  and  Lazes,  the  greater  majority  of 
whom  were  armed  with  Martini-Henry  rifles,  made  an 
attack  upon  the  Armenians  inhabiting  several  villages 
of  that  vicinity,  and  set  fire  to  their  houses  and  schools. 
As  the  Armenians  fled  in  terror  from  their  dwellings 
they  were  shot  down  as  they  ran,  and  a  number  of  men 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      303 

and  women  who  were  captured  by  the  rioters,  it  is 
added,  were  fastened  to  stakes  and  burned  alive. 

"  The  Armenian  women  who  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  mob,  it  is  asserted,  were  outraged  and  brutally 
mutilated.  It  is  also  stated  that  the  churches  were 
desecrated  and  pillaged,  the  cattle,  and  all  the  portable 
property  of  any  value  belonging  to  the  Armenians 
being  carried  off  by  the  marauders.  During  the  dis- 
turbance 150  Armenians  are  reported  to  have  been 
killed.  The  surviving  villages  applied  for  protec- 
tion to  the  governor  of  Baiburt,  who,  after  hearing 
their  complaint,  sent  three  policemen  to  the  scene  of 
the  massacre  after  the  slaughter  was  ended. 

"  The  Turkish  officials,  it  is  claimed^  know  the 
ringleaders  of  the  outbreak  in  the  Baiburt  district; 
but  apparently  no  steps  have  been  taken  to  arrest 
them." 

Another  Letter  from  Baiburt. 

"  The  Armenian  bishop's  vicar  was  killed,  the 
teachers  in  the  schools  and  many  other  men  and  women 
were  massacred.  Women  jumped  into  open  wells 
to  escape  worse  deaths;  the  villages  round  about  were 
laid  waste. 

"  Following  this  was  the  Erzinghan  massacre.  On 
Friday,  the  25th  of  October,  1895,  the  Moslems  fin- 
ished their  noon  hour  of  prayer  by  pouring  out  of  the 
mosques  and  attacking  the  Armenians  in  the  market, 
who,  taken  by  surprise,  were  shot  and  cut  down  to 
the  number  of  500;  their  shops  being  all  plundered." 
(Signed)  An  American  Missionary. 

ERZEROUM. 

This  is  a  large  city,  almost  on  the  boundary  line 
between  Russia  and  Turkey,  in  Turkish  Armenia.  It 
has  about  00,000  people,  one-third  of  whom  are  Ar- 


304  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

menians.  Several  times  since  the  last  Turko-Kussian 
war  the  Christian  Armenians  have  been  massacred 
there  by  the  Turks  and  the  regular  soldiers,  and  dur- 
ing the  recent  atrocities  also  there  were  massacred,  and 
in  all  about  3,000  Armenians  were  killed. 

Letter  from  Erzeroum. 

"  Nov.  27,  1895. — The  massacre  evidently  was 
pre-arranged.  It  began  all  over  the  city  at  the 
same  moment.  The  bugle  was  sounded,  and  the  sol- 
diers began.  They  first  said,  "  No  harm  to  women  or 
children,"  but  they  soon  passed  those  bounds.  A  sol- 
dier who  was  on  guard  says  the  order  was  given  by 
the  Porte.  We  made  ready  for  defense,  but  it  soon 
appeared  that  the  soldiers  had  cut  off  the  rabble  from 
our  section,  for  no  mob  passed  our  street.  A  few  men 
tried  to  open  the  door,  but  three  well-directed  shots 
from  our  balcony  sent  them  off. 

"  The  soldiers  at  the  head  of  our  street,  apparent- 
ly to  guard  it,  broke  open  three  or  four  houses  within 
a  stone's  throw  of  us,  and  carried  off  everything 
they  found.  We  saw  loads  of  plunder  carried  away 
by  soldiers.  A  large  number  of  women  engaged  in 
the  same  work.  The  affair  began  shortly  after  noon 
and  continued  about  six  hours.  One  Armenian  was 
called  to  the  door  by  an  officer,  who  professed  to  be 
friendly,  and  was  cut  down  in  cold  blood.  Others 
Avere  cruelly  murdered.  The  death  roll  must  be 
towards  300,  if  not  more.  Between  fifty  and  sixty 
wounded  are  in  the  hospital. 

"  Two  hundred  were  gathered  in  the  Armenian 
cemetery,  some  horribly  mutilated.  There  must  be 
many  wounded  in  the  different  houses.  The  pillaged 
houses  are  to  be  counted  by  the  hundred.  No  house 
attacked  was  left  until  it  was  emptied  of  every  movable 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      30-') 

thing.  The  next  day  we  went  to  an  Armenian  home. 
In  the  middle  of  a  small  room  (the  kitchen),  lying 
side  by  side  on  a  mat,  were  the  bodies  of  two  young 
women,  almost  naked,  a  light  covering  thrown  over 
their  heads.  At  the  other  side  of  the  room  a  grief- 
stricken  woman  was  trying  to  make  bread  from  a  little 
flour  that  had  been  left.  She  had  to  borrow  utensils 
to  do  it.  She  left  her  work,  came  forward  and  re- 
moved the  covering  from  the  bodies.  They  were 
those  of  young  women  developing  into  motherhood. 
The  head  and  face  of  one  was  covered  with  blood, 
and  she  was  also  badly  wounded  in  the  hand.  The 
other  had  a  bullet  wound  through  the  abdomen  from 
the  right  side.  A  companion  of  these  two  had  been 
carried  off,  and  was  lying  dead  in  another  house.  Their 
lives  were  sacrificed  in  defense  of  honor. 

"  We  passed  through  the  ruins  to  other  rooms. 
Boxes  and  furniture  were  in  splinters,  windows 
smashed,  walls  ploughed  with  bullets.  The  floor  was 
covered  with  big  patches  of  blood.  The  bodies  lying 
in  the  cemeteries  are  simply  wrecks  of  human  beings. 
The  majority  have  bullet  wounds.  Nearly  all  have 
bayonet,  sword  and  dagger  wounds,  some  badly  muti- 
lated. Two  or  three  were  skinned,  and  some  were 
burned  with  kerosene.  A  great  many  women  are 
missing.  Very  many  dead  have  been  disposed  of  by 
the  Turks.  Hundreds  have  nothing  to  eat,  and  no 
means  of  getting  anything.  The  villages  of  the  plain 
have  suffered  awfully.  Xo  definite  news  has  come; 
only  the  news  that  columns  of  smoke  tell." 

MARASH. 

The  writer  became  acquainted  with  many  noble 
Armenians  here  during  his  three  years  in  the  Theolog- 
ical Seminary,  and  almost  all  his  friends  were  killed. 


306  ARMENIA  AND  HEH  PEOPLE. 

Among  them  were  the  llev.  Sdepan  Jirnazian,  a  noble 
Christian  minister, —  when  I  was  a  little  boy  he  was 
my  pastor  in  the  snburbs  of  Antioch;  —  Bedros  Iski- 
yan,  an  American  citizen,  butchered  before  his  wife 
and  children;  Garabed  Popalian,  another  noble  man, 
and  the  richest  among  the  Armenian  Evangelical 
people;  Dr.  Kevork  Gulizian;  Khacher  Bayramian 
and  his  family;  Garabed  Salibian,  in  whose  house  I 
used  to  take  my  meals.  A  private  letter  says  that 
about  half  the  Armenians  were  killed  by  the  Turks. 
Marash  had  about  35,000  population;  about  15,000 
were  Armenians,  of  whom  about  7,000  were  killed. 
It  has  four  Evangelical  Armenian  churches  there, 
a  theological  seminary,  and  a  ladies'  college.  The 
local  governor  led  the  regular  soldiers  to  plunder  and 
kill  the  people. 

Letter  from  Marash. 

London,  Nov.  28,  1895. — The  correspondent  of 
the  United  Press  in  Constantinople  telegraphs,  under 
date  of  November  27,  that  a  second  terrible  massacre 
has  occurred  in  Marash,  and  that  the  houses  there 
have  been  pillaged  without  regard  to  who  their  occu- 
pants might  be.  It  is  reported  that  thousands  of  per- 
sons were  killed  and  many  hundred  wounded.  The 
American  Theological  Seminary  was  plundered  and 
burned,  and  two  of  the  students  in  that  institution 
were  shot,  one  being  fatally  wounded.  The  hotels 
and  boarding  houses  also  were  plundered.  The 
Christians  at  Marash,  and  in  that  vicinity,  thousands 
of  whom  are  destitute,  have  appealed  for  aid. 

The  following  letter,  under  date  of  November  25^ 
has  been  received  here: 


Tin:  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      307 

'*  1  will  report  the  events  of  the  18th  in  this  city. 
At  7  a.  ni.,  almost  simultaneously  the  firing  of 
Martini  rifles  was  heard  all  over  the  city,  with  confla- 
grations in  three  Christian  quarters. 

''  We  understood  the  meaning  of  it.  Soldiers 
began  firing  against  two  Christian  houses,  and  their 
inmates  fled  into  missionary  houses,  and  soon  the  sol- 
diers were  looting  their  buildings,  followed  by  a  mob, 
who  smashed  doors  and  windows,  and  carried  away 
property. 

"  Towards  noon  a  squad  of  soldiers  approached 
the  missionary  grounds,  and  it  was  thought  that  a  guard 
had  been  sent  in  behalf  of  the  missionaries.  They 
entered  the  grounds  of  the  seminary  and  academy 
boarding  department.  Two  seminary  students,  who 
had  concealed  themselves  in  a  cave,  were  discovered, 
and  one  of  them  fatally  shot,  while  the  other  was 
badly  woimded. 

"  The  soldiers  looted  the  missionary  academy  board- 
ing department  of  all  the  students'  clothing  and  bed- 
ding, and  a  part  of  the  year's  provisions  in  store. 
Other  soldiers  joined  and  looted  the  seminary.  They 
repeatedly  went  to  an  Armenian  house  near  by,  but 
did  not  force  it. 

"  Three-quarters  of  that  terrible  day  the  mission- 
aries were  left  to  any  chance  fate  that  might  befall 
them.  They  had  been  informed  by  a  Moslem  of  a 
purpose  to  burn  the  Girls'  College  that  day,  and  a 
note  had  been  sent  to  the  local  governor  asking  for  a 
special  guard.  He  replied  that  the  barracks  near  by 
were  charged  to  care  for  them.  It  was  soldiers  in  re- 
lays from  that  very  place  that  were  wrecking  every- 
thing. 

"  In  the  afternoon  four  or  five  soldiers  entered  the 
seminary,  and  soon  after,  fire  broke  out  in  the  rear. 
As  the  flames  wrapped  the  building,  a  trustworthy 


308  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

captain  with  thirty  soldiers  appeared  at  the  gate,  and 
the  missionaries  were  assured  of  safety.  The  soldiers 
still  continue  with  the  missionaries.  We  cannot  es- 
timate the  loss  of  life.  Leaders  of  society  have  been 
struck  down  everywhere,  two  missionary  academy 
teachers  among  them." 

AKHISAR. 
The  valley  of  the  Sakaria  (the  ancient  Sangarius), 
is,  through  a  part  of  its  course,  followed  by  the  Ana- 
tolia line  of  railway.  At  a  spot  ninety  miles  from 
Constantinople,  where  the  valley  broadens  out  into  a 
considerable  plain,  is  the  station  and  town  of  Akhisar. 
This  town  was,  until  the  tenth  of  this  month,  the 
center  of  a  considerable  trade.  The  plain  is  dotted 
with  vineyards,  olive  orchards,  mulberry  gardens, 
fields  of  cotton,  wheat,  etc.  The  town  consists  of 
about  160  houses  of  immigrants  from  Bulgaria,  Bos- 
nia, and  Rumelia  (who,  having  been  concerned  in  the 
celebrated  Bulgarian  massacres,  found  refuge  in  Turk- 
ish territory),  and  sixty  houses  of  Armenians. 

A  Letter  Oct.  15,  1895. 

Thursday,  Oct.  10  (a  bright,  beautiful  day), 
was  market  day.  Numbers  of  people  from  the  sur- 
rounding villages  had  come  with  the  fruits  of  their 
various  industries.  The  market  place  consisted  of 
sixty-three  permanent  shops,  and  about  150  tempo- 
rary places  of  trade,  where  traders  from  the  surround- 
ing country  exposed  their  wares  for  sale.  The  mar- 
ket was  almost  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  Armenians, 
200  of  the  shops  and  trading  places  being  in  their 
hands.  Rumors  of  danger  were  afloat,  but  the  Ar- 
menians anticipated  no  attack  on  market-day.     They 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IX  ARMENIA.      309 

had  no  arms,  or  moans  of  defense,  and  had  taken  no 
precautions.  They  soon  began  to  notice,  however, 
that  their  Mussulman  neighbors  had  mysterious  whis- 
perings among  themselves,  and  that  some  of  them  were 
searching,  as  with  oHicial  authority,  the  persons  of 
Armenian  young  men,  who  were  supposed  to  have 
knives  or  revolvers  about  them.  Those  searching  at 
last  found  a  young  Armenian,  a  seller  of  calico,  who 
had  a  knife  in  his  possession.  At  once  they  fell  upon 
him,  but  he  escaped  in  the  crowd  that  gathered,  and 
the  Mussulmans  turned  upon  the  Armenians,  saying, 
"  AVe  must  kill  them  all.  Let  him  who  loves  his 
religion  join  and  help."  AVith  knives  and  clubs  the 
work  was  earned  on,  the  Armenians  fleeing,  or  hiding 
themselves  in  or  about  their  shops.  Turkish  officials 
encouraged  the  killers.  A  herald  was  sent  through 
the  market  calling,  ''  Let  the  Moslems  go  to  the  gov- 
ernment house."  They  did  go,  and  immediately  re- 
turned with  rifles  and  revolvers.  Then  the  slaughter 
increased  in  madness.  The  piteous  entreaties  of  the 
threatened,  the  shrieks  of  the  wounded,  the  groans  of 
the  dying,  the  shouts  of  the  killers,  and  the  hysterical 
cries  of  some  of  the  Christians,  who,  to  save  their  lives 
were  calling  out  with  desperate  energy  the  Moham- 
medan formula  of  faith,  rose  to  the  deaf  heavens. 
Ten-year-old  Turkish  boys,  as  though  hunting  rats, 
mshed  into  holes  and  corners,  and  discovering  the 
hiding-places  of  the  merchants  and  traders,  called 
to  their  fathers  and  big  brothers,  ^'  Here  is  a  Gia- 
vour  !  "  and  while  that  one  was  beins:  dispatched  they 
rushed  off  to  ferret  out  another.  For  four  hours  the 
slaughter  continued.  Ropes  were  attached  to  the 
feet  of  the  corpses,  which  were  dragged  like  the  car- 
casses of  dogs  through  the  streets  to  dry  wells,  into 
which  they  were  thrown.  An  old  man,  aged  75,  was 
tumbled  in  alive,  and  left  to  die  among  the  dead  bodies 


310  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

of  his  friends.  The  money  and  watches  of  the  mer- 
chants wore  secnred  by  the  rviffians.  The  notes  of 
hand  and  account  books  were  torn  into  shreds  (the 
killers  were  debtors  to  the  merchants),  and  the  shop^. 
were  looted.  Xot  so  much  as  a  pin  or  needle  was 
left  in  the  200  shops.  Then  the  cry  was  raised,  ''  To 
the  houses  !  "  to  complete  the  destruction  of  the  Chris- 
tian inhabitants. 

Twenty-nine  bodies  were  afterward  recovered  for 
burial;  thirty-three  persons  (some  of  whom  afterward 
died),  were  found  to  be  wounded,  and  about  forty  are 
still  missing.  The  lieutenant-governor  arrived  that 
night  on  the  scene,  and  sent  an  official  report  (by  tele- 
gram) to  Constantinople,  to  the  effect  that  a  row  had 
occurred  between  Turks  and  Armenians,  in  which 
three  Armenians  had  been  killed  and  two  wounded, 
but  that  order  had  been  restored  !  Efforts  were  made 
to  cover  the  matter  up.  Christians  were  imprisoned 
for  talking  about  the  massacre,  or  for  sending  the  news 
to  friends.  A  prominent  man,  well-known  through- 
out the  country,  wished  to  let  his  circle  of  friends 
know  that  he  was  still  alive,  and  was  permitted  to  ad- 
vertise that  he  had  met  with  an  accident,  but  was 
quite  well. 

Great  patches  of  dried  blood  in  the  shops  pre- 
sented the  appearance  of  places  used  for  the  slaughter 
of  sheep.  Groups  of  people  were  standing  before  the 
houses,  statue-like,  bewildered  and  hopeless,  while 
other  groups  were  wailing  over  the  news  of  the  corpses 
of  friends,  just  recovered  from  the  wells.  I  saw  one 
of  the  mutilated  corpses,  and  have  seen  it  night  and 
day  since. 

An  American  Missionary. 

The  above  missionary  also  says  not  only  common 
people,  but  also  officers  of  high  rank,  made  free  threats 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      311 

of  massacre,  and  ostentatiously  sharpened  their  swords 
and  cleaned  their  weapons  in  the  presence  of  their 
Armenian  neighbors.  Great  care  was  taken  by  the 
authorities  to  deprive  the  Armenians*  of  arms;  but  the 
Mussulmans  were  allowed  to  carry  arms  freely.  The 
Constantinople  demonstration  and  consequent  mas- 
sacre aggravated  the  situation.  It  was  pitiable  to  see 
the  fear  that  held  the  Armenians  as  in  a  nightmare, 
and  to  hear  the  threats  and  observe  the  bearing  of  the 
Turks. 

A  soldier,  passing  the  door  of  a  Christian  house 
and  observing  a  young  woman  sitting  on  the  door- 
step, ground  his  teeth  and  called  out  to  her,  "  You 
may  sit  there  four  days  more,  and  then  I  will  have 
you  on  the  point  of  this  bayonet."  The  girl  fled  in 
terror  into  the  house. 

ZEITOON. 
Zeitoon  is  fifteen  miles  from  Marash.  The  Zeitoon- 
lis  arc  the  bravest  of  all  the  Armenians;  there  are  about 
15,000  in  the  city,  and  no  Mohammedans,  save  a 
dozen  or  two  Turkish  families,  and  they  talk  the  Ar- 
menian language.  Until  about  thirty  years  ago  Zei- 
toon was  a  free  city ;  but  they  were  conquered  by  craft, 
and  became  tributary  to  Turkey.  The  Sultan  gar- 
risoned the  place  to  keep  them  dowm,  and  the  troops 
committed  every  sort  of  iniquity.  Finally,  about  two 
years  ago,  the  Sultan  sent  physicians  there  to  poison 
the  Armenian  boys.  These  assassins  professed  to  have 
come  to  vaccinate  the  boys;  every  boy  who  was  vac- 
cinated died.     Then  the  Zeitoonlis  revolted,  captured 


312  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

the  barracks  from  the  soldiers,  took  all  the  guns, 
cannon,  and  ammunition,  and  sent  the  soldiers  away. 
This  action  enraged  the  Sultan,  and  he  sent  some  20,- 
000  regular  soldiers  and  30,000  bashi-bazooks  to  punish 
them;  but  they  were  repulsed  with  heavy  loss  by  the 
Zeitoonlis.  It  has  been  reported  that  during  the  bat- 
tle between  the  Zeitoonlis  and  Turks  about  15,000  of 
the  latter  were  killed.  Finally  the  Sultan  lost  hope 
of  conquering  them,  and  asked  the  European  powers 
to  use  their  good  offices  to  restore  peace  in  Zeitoon, 
and  the  consuls  of  the  different  powers  induced  them 
to  resume  peaceful  work  by  guaranteeing  that  the 
Zeitoonlis  shall  not  be  molested.  But  who  believes 
a  word  of  it  ?  We  know,  with  horrible  clearness,  of 
how  much  value  the  powers'  "  guarantee '^  is;  they 
say  there  is  no  obligation  but  to  keep  count  of  the 
massacres. 

A  Few  statements  from  Zeitoon. 

"  Turkish  mendacity  is  again  asserting  itself.  A 
few  days  ago  the  Sublime  Porte  set  afloat  the  official 
report  that  Zeitoon  has  fallen,  after  hard  fighting, 
in  which  2,500  Armenians  were  said  to  have  been 
killed  as  against  250  Turks.  Now  these  official  re- 
ports turn  out  to  have  been  official  lies.  News  from 
independent  sources  shows  that  Zeitoon  has  not  yet 
fallen;  that  its  gallant  defenders  are  still  holding 
out  their  own.  To  Armenians  who  understand  Ot- 
toman tactics,  the  alacrity  with  which  Abdul  Hamid 
sent  abroad  the  news  of  the  supposed  victory  of  his 
troops  is  a  sign  of  misfortunes  and  reverses.  The 
Turks  control  the  avenues  of  communication  at  Mar- 
ash,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  they  attempt  to  win 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      313 

victories  upon  telegraphic  despatches  —  but  not  at 
Zeitoon. 

The  Armenians  at  Zeitoon  are  rebels  against  or- 
ganized assassination,  ])lunder,  and  arson.  They  have 
been  unwilling  to  submit  meekly  to  Turkish  outrages, 
and  are  determined  to  defend  their  lives,  their  homes, 
and  their  property.  They  have  vanquished  Turkish 
armies  before,  and  strewn  the  ground  with  thousands 
of  Turkish  carcasses.  They  need  fear  nothing  but 
the  lack  of  supplies.  Will  not  Christian  nations  inter- 
vene to  save  a  valiant  people  who  are  defending  their 
homes  and  their  liberties,  and  who  cannot  be  conquered 
by  force  of  arms,  yet  who  may  be  compelled  to  sur- 
render to  inexorable  hunger  ? — [Tigram  H.  Suni, 
Dec.  81. 

"  London,  Feb.  3. — A  dispatch  from  Constanti- 
nople to  the  ^  Daily  Xews  '  says:  'Reports  from 
Turkish  sources  believed  to  be  fairly  accurate  state 
that  it  is  believed  that  the  Zeitoonlis  awi  still  holding 
out.  The  Turks  have  made  seven  different  attacks 
upon  the  town,  but  all  have  failed,  and  their  losses 
are  reported  to  amount  to  10,000.  It  is  alleged  that 
50,000  troops  will  be  needed  to  capture  Zeitoon. 

"  It  is  believed  that  the  Zeitoonlis  number  from 
15,000  to  20,000,  well  armed,  and  provisioned  for  a 
year.  There  is  a  doubtful  report  that  4,000  Russian 
Armenians  crossed  the  Persian  frontier,  and  defeated 
the  Turks  at  Siz,  eighteen  hours  from  Zeitoon,  and 
have  joined  the  Zeitoonlis." 

MISCELLANEOUS 

In  the  province  of  Aleppo,  the  village  of  Chizek, 
the  Armenian  priest  was  killed  for  refusing  to  become 
a  Mohammedan. 

In  the  province  of  Erzeroum  and  the  district  of 


314  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Erzinghan,  six  separate  attacks  for  pillage  have  been 
made  upon  the  village  of  Zimara,  and  great  pressure 
is  being  used  to  force  the  people  of  the  village  to  be- 
come Mohammedans. 

At  the  village  of  Gazma  the  houses  have  been  pil- 
laged, and  numbers  of  the  people  have  become  Mo- 
hammedans to  save  their  lives. 

In  the  province  of  Bitlis  a  considerable  number 
of  Armenians  at  Sert  have  been  forced  to  become  Mo- 
hammedans. In  the  district  of  Shirvan,  out  of  twen- 
ty-two Armenian  villages,  the  inhabitants  of  four  en- 
tire villages  have  become  Mohammedans  to  save  their 
lives.  The  priests  also  accepted  Mohammedanism, 
and  the  churches  have  been  changed  into  mosques. 
At  a  little  village  at  which  the  inhabitants  could  not 
disperse  over  the  mountains  a  considerable  number 
were  killed,  and  the  survivors  accepted  Mohammedan- 
ism. This  village  is  called  Kourine.  In  the  district 
of  Chilain,  returns  from  six  villages  have  come  in 
which  show  a  considerable  number  of  persons  killed 
for  refusing  to  accept  Islamism. 

In  the  province  of  Van  the  stuifed  skin  of  the  su- 
perior of  the  monastery  of  Khizan  was  still  hanging 
from  a  tree  in  front  of  the  monastery  three  weeks 
after  the  massacre  took  place;  that  is,  at  the  date  of 
the  last  news  from  there,  T^ov.  27.  At  Khar- 
kotz  in  this  province  three  priests  accepted  Moham- 
medanism, and  were  paraded  through  the  streets  in 
the  dress  of  Mohammedan  ulema  in  order  to  influence 
the  people  to  follow  their  example. 


THE  TrUKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     816 

In  the  province  of  Ilarpoot  in  many  of  the  smaller 
villages,  where  the  people  have  been  supposed  by  the 
Turks  to  be  mere  peasants,  without  ideas  of  their  own, 
the  offer  of  Islamism  has  not  been  made,  but  the  people 
seized  without  ceremony  and  circumcised  by  force, 
and  are  considered  now  as  Mohammedans.  At  Ha- 
boosi,  in  this  province,  the  Christian  dead  were  left 
unburied  in  the  streets  for  the  dogs  to  eat.  The  Ar- 
menian church  and  the  Protestant  chapel  and  par- 
sonage were  burned. 

At  Peri,  in  the  same  province,  450  Christians  were 
made  Mohammedans  by  threats  of  death. 

At  Aivos  in  the  same  province,  all  the  buildings 
were  destroyed.  The  Armenian  priest  was  forced  to 
give  the  call  to  prayer,  and  was  then  shot  for  refusing 
to  become  a  Moslem. 

At  Garmuri  the  Christians  accepted  Mohamme- 
danism at  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  have  been  cir- 
cumcised. The  Protestant  chapel  and  parsonage  were 
burned,  and  the  Armenian  church  has  been  seized  and 
made  into  a  mosque. 

At  Ilokh  the  Armenian  church  and  Protestant 
chapel  and  parsonage  were  burned. 

At  Houilu  in  the  province  of  Harpoot,  266  out  of 
300  Christian  houses  were  burned,  among  them  the 
fine  new  Protestant  church.  Two  priests  were  killed. 
Many  of  the  people  succeeded  in  escaping  from  the 
village.  The  rest  have  been  forced  to  declare  them- 
selves Mohammedans. 

The  events  above  mentioned  took  place  in  the  main 


316  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

between  Xov.  6  and  Xov.  20.  But  the  process 
of  forced  conversion  and  the  murder  of  indi- 
viduals who  refuse  to  accept  Mohammedanism  was 
still  going  on  as  lately  as  the  20th  of  December,  when 
the  Turkish  government  was  assuring  the  European 
Ambassadors  that  all  is  quiet  in  Asiatic  Turkey,  and 
that  all  that  is  necessary  to  complete  the  work  of  paci- 
fication is  for  Turkey  to  be  let  alone. 

The  nature  of  the  pacification  which  may  be  ex- 
pected if  Turkey  is  left  free  to  carry  out  its  schemes 
for  these  provinces  may  be  judged  from  the  following 
list  of  educated  and  influential  Protestant  ministers, 
who  have  been  put  to  death  for  refusing  to  embrace 
Mohammedanism.  In  every  case  the  offer  of  life 
on  these  terms  was  made;  in  several  cases  time  was 
allowed  for  consideration  of  the  proposal ;  and  in  each 
case  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  was  the  sole  crime  charged 
against  the  victim. 

1.  Rev.  Krikor,  pastor  at  Ichme,  killed  ^N'ov.  6,  1895. 

2.  Rev.  Knkor  Tamzarien. 

3.  Rev.  Boghos  Atlasian,  killed  Xov.  18. 

4.  Rev.  Mardiros    Siraganian,    of    Arabkir,    killed 

mv.  13. 

5.  Rev.  Garabed  Kilijjian  of  Sivas,  killed  Nov.  12. 

6.  Rev.  ^fr.  Stepan,  of  the  Anglican  Church  at  Ma- 

rash,  killed  Xov.  18. 

7.  The  preacher  of  the  village  of  Hajin,  killed  at 

Marash  Xov.  18. 

8.  Rev.  Krikor  Baghdasarian,  retired  preacher  at 

Harpoot,  Xov.  18. 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      317 

9.  Retired  preacher  at  Divrik,  killed  Nov.  8. 

10.  Eev.  Garabed    Resseian,    pastor    at    Cherwouk, 

JS^v.  5. 

11.  Rev.  Metean  Minasian,  pastor  at  Sherik,  Nov. 

12.  Pastor  at  Ciitteroul,  Nov.  6. 

13.  Preacher  at  Ciitteroul,  Nov.  6. 

14.  Rev.  Sarkis  Narkashjian,  pastor  at  Chounkoush, 

Nov.  14. 

1 5.  The  pastor  of  the  church  at  Severek,  November. 

16.  The  pastor  of  the  church  at  Adiyaman. 

17.  Rev.  Hohannes  Hachadorian,  pastor  at  Kilisse, 

Nov.  7. 

18.  The     preacher    at    Karabesh,    near     Diarbekir, 

Nov.  7. 

19.  Rev.  Mardiros  Tarzian,  pastor  at  Keserik,  near 

Harpoot,  November. 

TELEGRAMS  FROM  HAJIN  (ARMENIA). 

To  the  English  Consul  at  Alepjjo,  and  to  the  English  Ambassador 
of  Constantinople. 

All  the  suburban  towns  of  Hajin  where  Christians 
live  were  plundered  bv  Mohammedans,  and  some  of 
the  Christians  were  killed.  The  people  of  Hajin  and 
we  are  in  danger;  immediate  help  is  needed. — Nov.  5, 
1895. 

To  the  American  Minister  at  Constantinople. 

The  Christian  villages  of  Hajin  were  totally  plun- 
dered by  the  Mohammedans.  About  two  thousand, 
naked  and  hungry,  ran  away  and  came  to  Hajin. 
Both  the  Christian  people  at  Hajin  and  we  are  in  dan- 
ger; immediate  help  is  needed. — Nov.  5,  1895. 


318  ARMENIA  AND  HER  I'EOPLE. 

Extracts  prom  a  Hajin  Letter. 

My  Dear  Sir:—  Nov.  25,  1895. 

The  situation  is  growing  worse  here.  All  the 
suburban  Christian  villages  were  plundered  by  Mo- 
hammedans. Some  of  the  villages  which  were  plun- 
dered were  as  follows: — Shar-Uere,  Koumlou,  Kok- 
ooun,  and  Dash-olouk.  All  of  them  are  left  naked 
and  hungry.  Came  here  to  our  city,  and  we  are  taking- 
care  of  them.  And  the  government  never  punished 
any  of  the  plunderers.  They  were  encouraged,  and 
surrounded  our  city,  and  nobody  can  go  out  of  the 
city,  and  if  this  continues  so,  we  shall  have  a  famine 
soon,  and  die  in  the  city.  The  government  does  not 
protect  us,  but  helps  the  plunderers,  and  we  are  con- 
tinually threatened  to  be  killed.  Our  only  hope  is 
in  God. 

Another  Extract  from  a  Letter  op  an  Armenian. 

I^ov.  25,  1895. 
My  Dear  Uncle : —  * 

If  you  ask  our  condition,  thank  God  that  we  are 
alive.  But  beside  life  we  have  nothing,  no  comfort, 
no  happiness,  no  property,  no  church,  no  religion,  all 
are  taken  from  us.  Though  we  are  alive,  many  of 
our  number  were  killed,  and  those  who  survive  are 
wandering  here  and  there,  naked  and  hungry,  and 
are  dying  in  that  manner. 

God  is  angry,  and  exceedingly  angry  to  us.  Per- 
haps he  Avill  hear  your  prayers;  pray  for  us,  or  else 
all  of  us  shall  perish.  I  can  never  describe  the  hor- 
rible situation  in  which  we  are  put. 

Yours  truly, 


ft  e  e 


i;Kol-p  OF   \KViKNf  \.\  f'HIi  J>MKX. 


kiln>\-ViiV  vrti'NU  AlliSEXlAX  WnMlIN 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      319 
FROM   HADISH  VILLAGE,  ARMENIA. 

My  Dear  Friend:—  Dec.  2,  1895. 

In  great  sorrow  and  in  despair  1  am  compelled  to 
write  to  you  a  few  lines  to  inform  you  of  our  most 
miserable  condition. 

The  Turks  and  Kurds  came  to  our  village,  plun- 
dered everything  we  had,  killed  more  than  600  per- 
sons, violated  the  women  and  girls,  tortured  the  preg- 
nant women,  and  now  we  who  survive  have  nothing  to 
live  on.  Naked,  hungry,  cold,  hopeless,  we  are  cry- 
ing bitterly.  I  write  these  few  lines;  perhaps  you 
can  inform  the  Christian  world  and  they  may  help  us 
and  relieve  our  sufferings.  Yours  truly. 

There  are  many  other  cities,  towns,  and  villages  in 
Armenia,  where  thousands  of  people  were  tortured 
and  killed,  their  houses  burned  and  plundered,  their 
children  kidnapped,  the  women  violated.  But  there 
is  no  space  to  put  all  here  in  this  book.  I  am  sure  the 
reader  will  be  satisfied  with  reading  this  long  chapter 
of  Armenian  horrors,  and  the  letters  on  the  atrocities 
from  different  reliable  sources. 

To  sum  up,  during  these  frightful  scenes  in  Ar- 
menia more  than  100,000  Armenians  were  killed,  and 
half  a  million  left  without  food,  homes,  or  clothing; 
they  are  dying  in  heaps;  and  there  is  no  hope  of  getting 
any  help  from  Armenia  itself,  even  when  the  spring 
comes,  for  those  who  would  have  supported  them  are 
killed,  and  most  of  the  destitute  are  women  and  chil- 
dren. Everything,  even  to  clothes,  is  taken  from 
them,  the  head  of  the  family  is  killed,  and  they  are 
left  hopeless  and  in  despair.     How  long  can  the  Ked 


320  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Cross  Society  help  them  ?  How  long  can  the  Ameri- 
can people  help  them  ?  jN'ot  very  long;  when  spring 
comes  they  will  say,  ''  We  have  done  all  we  could  for 
the  Armenians;  let  them  take  care  of  themselves." 
But  will  they  stop  to  think  how  the  Armenians  can 
take  care  of  themselves  ?  Have  they  oxen  and  horses 
to  plough  ^  Ko.  Is  there  any  man  left  to  support 
his  wife  and  children  ?  No.  Suppose  here  and  there 
an  Armenian  is  left  (I  mean  in  the  country  places, 
not  in  the  cities),  dare  he  go  out  to  his  field  and  work  '( 
Xo.  Were  any  of  those  who  plundered  and  killed 
punished  ?  No.  What  guarantee  can  we  have,  then, 
tliat  those  who  survive  will  not  be  killed  or  plundered 
in  their  turn  ?  None.  Will  the  European  pOAvers 
who  signed  the  Berlin  Treaty  give  any  assurance  to 
the  Armenians  that  they  will  be  protected  hereafter  ? 
No.  Is  the  Sultan  a  better  man  since  the  massacre  ? 
No.  Are  the  Turks  and  Kurds  better  people  since 
the  atrocities  ?  No.  They  are  worse  than  ever 
before,  because  they  have  a  freer  hand,  and  all  their 
])assions  are  roused  to  greater  strength.  Well,  then, 
if  these  are  all  facts,  what  is  the  use  of  feeding  people 
a  few  weeks  merely  to  keep  them  alive  for  another  mas- 
sacre that  will  finish  the  rest  of  them  ? 

O  reader,  do  not  be  cheated.  The  Armenians  need 
practical  aid,  not  deceptive  aid.  I  mean  the  Armen- 
ians must  be  liberated  from  the  cruel  Sultan;  if  not, 
no  aid  is  given  to  the  Armenians.  Because  the  fu- 
ture will  be  worse  than  ever  before. 

Thus  far  I  have  continually  assumed  and  tried  to 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  AHMEXIA       321 

prove  that  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  deliberately  ordered 
all  these  atrocities  committed.  But  perhaps  you  will 
doubt  the  statement  of  a  native;  you  will  think  I  am 
prejudiced.  Therefore  I  will  give  you  American  tes- 
timonies from  reliable  sources.  Please  read  the  fol- 
lowing from  the  "  Review  of  Reviews  "  : — 

THE  MASSACRES  IN  TURKEY. 

From  Oct.  1,  1895,  to  Jan.  1,  1896. 
Certain  persons  in  Europe  and  America,  misled  by 
statements  of  the  Turkish  government,  have  ascribed 
the  dreadful  massacres  which  have  taken  place  in 
Asia  Minor  to  sudden  and  spontaneous  outbreaks  of 
Moslem  fanaticism,  caused  by  a  revolutionary  attitude 
among  the  Armenians  themselves.  The  truth  is  that 
these  massacres,  while  sudden,  have  taken  place  ac- 
cording to  a  deliberate  and  preconcerted  plan.  Ac- 
cording to  the  statement  of  many  persons,  French, 
English,  Canadian,  American,  Turk,  Kurd  and  Ar- 
menian, —  persons  trustworthy  and  intelligent,  who 
were  in  the  places  where  the  massacres  occurred,  and 
who  were  eye-witnesses  of  the  horrible  scenes,  —  the 
outbreaks  were  under  careful  direction  in  regard  to 
place,  time,  nationality  of  the  victims  and  of  the  per- 
petrators, were  prompted  by  a  common  motive,  and 
their  true  character  has  been  systematically  concealed 
by  Turkish  official  reports.  The  following  paper  is 
based  upon  full  accounts  of  the  massacres,  written  on 
the  ground  by  the  parties  above  referred  to.  Their 
names,  for  obvious  reasons,  cannot  be  made  public. 

I.    In  Regard  to  Place. 

"With  only  four  exceptions  of  consequence,  the 
massacres  have  been  confined  to  the  territory  of  the 
six  provinces  where  reforms  were  to  be  instituted. 
21 


322  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

AVhen  a  band  of  two  tlioiisand  Kurdish  and  Circas- 
sian raiders  approached  the  boundary  between  the 
provinces  of  Sivas  and  Angora,  they  were  turned  back 
by  the  officials,  who  told  them  that  they  had  no  author- 
ity to  pass  beyond  the  province  of  Sivas.  The  only 
large  places  where  outrages  occurred  outside  of  the 
six  provinces  are  Trebizond,  Marash,  Aintab,  and 
Cesarea,  in  all  of  which  the  Moslems  were  excited 
by  the  nearness  of  the  scenes  of  massacre,  and  by  the 
reports  of  the  plunder  which  other  Moslems  were 
securing. 

II.    In  Regard  to  Time. 

The  massacre  in  Trebizond  occurred  just  as  the 
Sultan,  after  six  months  of  refusal,  was  about  to  con- 
sent to  the  scheme  of  reforms,  as  if  to  warn  the  powers 
that  in  case  they  persisted,  the  mine  was  already  laid 
for  the  destruction  of  the  Armenians.  In  fact,  the 
massacre  of  the  Armenians  is  Turkey's  real  reply  to 
the  demands  of  Europe  that  she  reform.  From  Tre- 
bizond the  wave  of  murder  and  robbery  swept  on 
through  almost  every  city,  and  town,  and  village  in 
the  six  provinces  where  relief  was  promised  to  the  Ar- 
menians. When  the  news  of  the  first  massacre 
reached  Constantinople,  a  high  Turkish  official  re- 
marked to  one  of  the  Ambassadors  that  massacre  was 
like  the  small-pox;  they  must  all  have  it,  but  they 
wouldn't  need  it  the  second  time. 

III.    The  Nationalitt  op  the  Victims. 

They  were  exclusively  Armenians.  In  Trebi- 
zond there  is  a  large  Greek  population,  but  neither 
there  nor  elsewhere  have  the  Greeks  been  molested. 
Special  care  has  also  been  taken  to  avoid  injury  to  the 
subjects  of  foreign  nations,  with  the  idea  of  escaping 
foreign  complications  and  the  payment  of  indemni- 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIBB  IN  ARMENIA.     823 

ties.  The  only  marked  exceptions  were  in  Marasli, 
where  three  school  buildings  belonging  to  the  Ameri- 
can Mission  were  looted,  and  one  building  was  burned ; 
and  in  Harpoot,  where  the  school  buildings  and  houses 
belonging  to  the  American  Mission  were  plundered 
and  eight  buildings  were  burned,  the  total  losses  ex- 
ceeding $100,000,  for  which  no  indemnity  has  yet 
been  paid. 

IV.    The  Method  op  Killing  and  Pillaging. 

The  method  in  the  cities  has  been  to  kill  within 
a  limited  period  the  largest  number  of  Armenians,  — 
especially  men  of  business,  capacity,  and  intelligence, 
—  and  to  beggar  their  families  by  robbing  them,  as 
far  as  possible,  of  their  property.  Hence,  in  almost 
every  place  the  massacres  have  been  perpetrated  during 
the  business  hours,  when  the  Armenians  could  be 
caught  in  their  shops.  In  almost  every  place,  the 
Moslems  made  a  sudden  and  simultaneous  attack  just 
after  their  noonday  prayer.  The  surprised  and  un- 
armed Armenians  made  little  or  no  resistance,  and 
where,  as  at  Diarbekir  and  Gurun,  they  undertook  to 
defend  themselves,  they  suffered  the  more.  The  kill- 
ing was  done  with  guns,  revolvers,  swords,  clubs,  pick- 
axes, and  every  conceivable  weapon,  and  many  of  the 
dead  were  horribly  mangled.  The  shops  and  houses 
were  absolutely  gutted. 

Upon  hundreds  of  villages  the  Turks  and  Kurds 
came  down  like  the  hordes  of  Tamerlane,  robbed  the 
helpless  peasants  of  their  flocks  and  herds,  stripped 
them  of  their  very  clothing,  and  carried  away  their 
bedding,  cooking  utensils,  and  even  the  little  stores 
of  provisions  which  they  had  with  infinite  care  and 
toil  laid  up  for  the  severities  of  a  rigorous  winter. 
"Worst  of  all  is  the  bitter  cry  that  comes  from  every 


324  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

quarter  that  tlie  [Moslems  carried  off  hundreds  of  Chrig- 
tian  women  and  children. 

The  number  killed  in  the  massacres  thus  far  is 
estimated  at  hftv  thousand,  which  includes  the  major- 
ity of  the  well-to-do,  capable,  intelligent  Armenians 
in  tlie  six  provinces  that  were  to  have  been  refoi'med. 
The  property  plundered  or  destroyed  is  estimated  at 
$40,000,000^.  Xot  less  than  three  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  wretched  survivors,  most  of  whom  are  wo- 
men and  children,  are  in  danger  of  perishing  by  star- 
vation and  exposure  unless  foreign  aid  is  promptly 
sent  and  allowed  to  reach  them. 

V.     The  Perpetrators. 

They  were  the  resident  Moslem  population,  rein- 
forced by  Kurds,  Circassians,  and  in  several  eases  by 
the  Sultan's  soldiers  and  officers,  who  began  the  dread- 
ful work  at  the  sound  of  a  bugle,  and  desisted  when  the 
bugle  signaled  to  them  to  stop.  This  was  notoriously 
true  in  Erzeroum.  In  Harpoot,  also,  the  soldiers  took 
a  prominent  part,  firing  on  the  buildings  of  the  Ameri- 
can Mission  with  Martini-Henry  rifles  and  Krupp 
cannon.  A  shell  from  one  of  the  cannon  burst  in  the 
house  of  the  American  Missionary,  Dr.  Barnum.  In 
most  places  the  killing  was  by  the  Turks,  while  the 
Xurds  and  Circassians  were  intent  on  plunder,  and  gen- 
erally killed  only  to  strike  terror  or  when  they  met  with 
resistance.  It  is  an  utter  mistake  to  suppose,  as  some 
have,  that  the  local  authorities  could  not  have  sup- 
pressed the  "  fanatical  "  Moslem  mobs  and  restrained 
the  Kurds.  The  fact  is  that  the  authorities,  after 
looking  on  while  the  massacres  were  in  progress,  did 
generallv  intervene  and  stop  the  slaughter  as  soon  as 
the  limited  period  during  which  the  Moslems  were 
allowed  to  kill  and  rob  had  expired. 


TUE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      :j25 

At  Marsovan  the  limit  of  time  was  four  hours.  In 
several  places  the  slaughter  and  pillage  continued 
from  noon  till  sundown,  or  later.  At  Sivas  they  con- 
tinued for  a  whole  day.  In  every  place  the  carnage 
stopped  as  soon  as  the  authorities  made  an  earnest  ef- 
fort, and  had  it  not  been  for  their  intervention  after 
the  set  time  of  one,  two,  or  three  days,  the  entire  Ar- 
menian population  might  have  been  exterminated. 

VI.    The  Motive  of  the  Turks. 

This  is  apparent  to  the  superficial  observer.  The 
scheme  of  reforms  devolved  civil  officers,  judgeships, 
and  police  participation  on  Mohammedans  and  non- 
^lohammedans  in  the  six  provinces  proportionately. 
This,  while  simple  justice,  was  a  bitter  pill  to  the  Mo- 
hammedans, w^io  had  ruled  the  Christians  with  a  rod 
of  iron  for  five  hundred  years.  All  that  was  needed 
to  make  the  scheme  of  reforms  inoperative  was  to 
alter  the  proportion  of  Christians  to  Mohammedans. 
This  policy  was  at  once  relentlessly  and  thoroughly  ex- 
ecuted. The  number  of  the  Armenians  has  been  dimin- 
ished, first  by  killing  at  a  single  blow  those  most  capa- 
ble of  taking  a  part  in  any  scheme  of  reconstruction, 
and  secondly  by  compelling  the  survivors  to  die  of 
starvation,  exposure,  and  sickness,  or  to  become  Mos- 
lems. 

It  is  the  very  essence  of  ^Mohammedanism  that  the 
'"'  ghiavour  '^  has  no  right  to  live,  save  in  subjection. 
The  abortive  scheme  of  Europe  insisting  on  the  rights 
of  Armenians  as  men,  has  enraged  the  Moslems  against 
them.  The  arrogant  and  non-progressive  Turks  know 
that  in  a  fair  and  equal  race  the  Christians  will  out- 
strip them  in  every  department  of  business  and  in- 
dustry, and  they  see  in  any  fair  scheme  of  reforms  the 
handwriting  on  the  wall  for  themselves.  If  the 
scheme    of   reforms   had    applied   to   regions   where 


326  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Greeks  predominate,  the  latter  would  have  been  killed 
and  robbed  as  readily  as  the  Armenians  have  been. 
Are  the  Greek  massacres  of  1822  forgotten,  w^hen 
50,000  were  killed,  or  the  slaughter  of  12,000  Maron- 
ites  and  Syrians  in  1800,  and  of  15,000  Bulgarians  in 
1876  'i 

VII.     Turkish  Official  Reports. 

The  refinement  of  cruelty  appears  in  this,  that  the 
Turkish  government  has  attempted  to  cover  up  its 
hideoiis  policy  by  the  most  colossal  lying  and  hypoc- 
risy. It  is  true  that  on  Sept.  30,  1895,  some 
hot-headed  young  Armenians,  contrary  to  the  entrea- 
ties of  the  Armenian  patriarch  and  the  orders  of  the 
police,  attempted  to  take  a  well-worded  petition  to 
The  Grand  Vezir,  according  to  a  time-honored  custom. 
It  is  also  true  that  the  oppressed  mountaineers  of 
Zeitoon  drove  out  a  small  garrison  of  Turkish  soldiers, 
whom,  however,  they  treated  with  humanity;  it  is  like- 
wise true  that  in  various  places  individual  Armenians, 
in  despair,  have  advocated  violent  methods.  But  the 
universal  testimony  of  impartial  foreign  eye-witnesses 
is  that,  with  the  above  exceptions,  the  Armenians  have 
given  no  provocation,  and  that  almost,  if  not  quite, 
all  the  telegrams  purporting  to  come  from  the  provin- 
cial authorities  accusing  the  Armenians  with  provoking 
the  massacres,  are  sheer  fabrications  of  names  and 
dates.  If  the  Armenians  made  attacks,  where  are  the 
Turkish  dead  ? 

And  the  dreadful  alternative  of  Islam  or  death 
was  offered  by  those  who  have  dazzled  and  deceived 
Europe  with  Hatti  Shereps  and  Hatti  Humayouns,  pro- 
mulgating civil  equality  and  religious  liberty  for  their 
Christian  subjects. 

Strangest  of  all,  he  who  is  the  head  of  all  authority 
in  Turkey,  and  responsible  above  anv  and  all  others 
for  the  cold-blooded  massacres  and  plundering  of  the 


The  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     327 

past  two  months,  wrote  a  letter  to  Lord  Salisbury,  and 
pledged  his  word  of  honor  that  the  scheme  of  reforms 
should  be  carried  out  to  the  letter,  at  the  very  moment 
when  he  was  directing  the  massacres.  And  the  six 
great  Christian  powers  of  Europe,  as  well  as  the  United 
States,  still  treat  this  man  with  infinite  courtesy  and 
deference;  their  representatives  still  dine  at  his  tables, 
and  some  of  them  still  receive  his  decorations. 

VIII.    The  Solution. 

If  the  Armenians  are  to  be  left  as  they  are,  it  is  a 
pity  that  Europe  ever  mentioned  them  in  the  treaty  of 
Berlin  or  subsequently;  and  to  intrust  reforms  in  be- 
half of  the  Armenians  to  those  who  have  devoted 
two  months'  time  to  killing  and  robbing  them  is  sim- 
ply to  abandon  the  Armenians  to  destruction,  and  to 
put  the  seal  of  Europe  to  the  bloody  work.  The  only 
way  to  reform  Eastern  Turkey  is  by  forcible  foreign 
intervention  —  not  the  threat  of  it,  but  the  inter- 
vention itself. 

The  position  and  power  of  Russia  give  her  a  imique 
call  to  this  work.  Should  she  enter  on  it  at  once,  the 
whole  civilized  world  would  approve  her  course. 

Russia  should  have  as  free  a  hand  in  Kurdistan 
as  England  has  insisted  on  having  in  Egypt.  By 
frankly  admitting  this,  England  would  gain  in  the 
respect  and  sympathy  of  the  world,  and  strengthen 
her  own  position. 

INFERENCES  FROM  THE  ARMENIAN  ATROCITIES. 

First :  That  devotion  to  Christ  is  not  lessened  but 
increased.  Many  people  think  the  spirit  of  unbelief 
and  indifferentism  has  spread  so  widely  that  in  this 
nineteenth  century  people  will  no  longer  die  for  Christ. 
But  out  of  100,000  Armenians  massacred,   90,000 


328  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

were  actually  martyred  because  tliey  would  not  deny 
Christ.  In  all  lands,  Christians  praise  the  old  martyrs, 
the  church  fathers:  let  them  know  that  there  are  as 
noble  church  sons  and  daughters  to-day  in  Armenia 
as  there  were  church  fathers  anywhere  in  the  early 
centuries.  Thus  these  hideous  scenes  ought  to  awaken 
a  true  Christian  spirit  both  in  this  country  and  in  Eu- 
rope. 

Second:  That  it  was  a  religious  persecution. 
Though  the  false  and  cruel  Sultan  gave  a  political 
color  to  it,  his  universal  order  was  to  offer  the  Ar- 
menians the  choice  of  Mohammedanism  or  death. 
This  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  leading  gospel  min- 
isters were  specially  chosen  for  martyrdom.  And 
some  of  the  Armenian  priests,  after  having  been  con- 
verted by  force,  to  escape  unbearable  tortures,  were 
led  through  the  streets,  followed  by  great  crowds,  as  a 
warning  to  the  remaining  Armenians  that  they 
must  follow  the  same  road.  When  some  of  them  did 
it,  the  Turks  forced  them  to  take  arms  and  kill  their 
brothers  and  sisters  for  refusing  to  accept  Mohamme- 
danism. To  speak  of  the  massacres  as  political  affairs 
is  doing  injustice  to  the  cause  of  Christ. 

Third :  That  whatever  a  man  sows,  he  shall  reap 
the  same.  The  Sultan  and  the  Turks  are  sowing,  — 
they  are  killing,  and  thousands  of  the  Christians  are 
converted  by  force  to  Mohammedanism;  but  the  time 
is  coming  when  more  Mohammedans  will  be  killed 
than  Armenians  have  been,  and  thousands,  and  even 
millions  of  the  Mohammedans  will  be  converted  to 


THE  TURKISH  ATHOCITIHS  IN  ARMENIA.      329 

Christianity,  and  the  blood  of  the  Armenian  martyrs 
will  be  the  means  of  their  salvation  through  Jesus 
Christ.  The  time  is  coming  when  out  of  this  great 
persecution  a  great  and  happy  freedom  will  proceed. 
Out  of  this  great  darkness  a  very  bright  light  shall 
shine. 

Fourth:  Some  of  the  Turks  helped  and  saved 
the  Armenians.  Certainly  these  were  secret  converts 
to  Christianity,  but  their  lives  being  in  danger,  they 
cannot  confess  Christ  publicly.  All  they  can  do  for 
the  present  is  to  help  the  needy  Christians  and  save 
them  from  murder.  Another  class  of  Turks  who  helped 
is  those  who  were  themselves  getting  a  living  out  of  the 
Armenians.  The  Armenians  gave  them  employment, 
and  if  their  employers  were  killed,  how  could  they 
get  a  living  ?  Still  another  class  protected  the  Ar- 
menians, because  if  the  Armenian  houses  were  burned, 
their  houses  also  would  be  burned;  and  they  asked 
and  got  money  from  the  Armenians  as  a  reward  for 
having  saved  them.  It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  there 
are  good  Mohammedans,  who,  from  a  good  Mohamme- 
dan motive  helped  the  Armenians.  There  cannot  be 
a  good  Mohammedan  motive  towards  a  Christian;  if 
there  is  a  good  motive,  it  is  not  a  Mohammedan  motive. 

Fifth:  That  the  time  has  come  when  American 
and  European  Christians  should  trust  no  longer  in  the 
promises  of  the  Sultan  and  the  European  governments, 
but  as  Christian  people  must  use  something  more  than 
"  moral  principle  "  before  all  the  Armenians  and  Am- 
erican   missionaries    are    killed.        Moral    influence 


830  ARMENIA  ANf)  HER  PEOPLU. 

is  very  good  as  far  as  it  goes;  being  a  Christian  minis- 
ter, 1  also  believe  in  it.  But  as  far  as  the  Turks  are 
concerned  it  can  do  nothing,  because  they  do  not  know 
what  morals  are,  or  what  moral  character  is.  All  the 
Turks  are  morally  corrupt.  They  know  only  two 
things;  one  is  the  sword,  the  other  is  moral  corrup- 
tion. They  came  and  captured  that  country  by  the 
sword,  and  the}-  must  go  by  the  sword ;  there  is  no  other 
way.  Europe  tried  the  experiment  century  after  cen- 
tury, but  could  find  no  other  way.  Moral  advice,  wise 
counsel  have  never  moved  the  Turks,  and  will  never 
move  them  hereafter.  Europe  and  a  part  of  Armenia 
were  taken  from  them  by  the  sword,  and  the  only  way 
Armenia  and  the  Armenians  can  be  saved  is  by  using 
the  sword.  When  Christ  comes  again  He  will  never 
yield;  He  will  never  be  crucified,  but  he  will  judge 
and  condemn.  The  time  has  come  when  Christians 
have  suffered  enough;  they  must  unite  and  remove 
that  great  curse,  the  Mohammedan  power,  and  make 
free  that  happy  and  beautiful  Bible  Land,  Armenia 
and  Palestine. 

Reader,  you  cannot  go  and  visit  to-day  the  places 
where  man  was  created,  where  Noah's  ark  rested.  You 
cannot  go  in  safety  to  visit  the  places  where 
Christ  was  born  and  walked.  Why  ?  Simply 
because  a  corrupt  Mohammedan  power  wills  there, 
and  will  not  permit  you.  Is  it  not  a  shame  to  mighty 
Christian  nations  and  powers  that  this  is  so  ?  Will 
not  the  Christian  nations  be  aroused  with  great  indig- 


THE  TURKISH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.     831 

nation  and  give  the  last  blow  to  such  a  cruel  Moham- 
medan tyranny  ? 

Sixth:  That  Turkey  is  a  mere  barbarism;  it  is 
not  to  be  considered  or  treated  as  a  nation,  for  it  is  not 
one  in  any  sense.  International  law  cannot  be  ap- 
plied to  Turkey.  The  Sultan  must  be  considered  as  a 
brigand,  a  mere  lawless  oppressor,  and  the  Turks  as 
mere  murderers,  and  dealt  with  accordingly.  The 
powers  must  give  up  the  farce  of  treating  the  Sultan 
as  a  national  sovereign,  who  speaks  for  his  people,  and 
may  govern,  therefore,  much  as  he  pleases.  As  Mr. 
W.  W.  Howard  says,  ''  The  blackest  spot  in  the  round 
world  is  the  heart  of  the  Sultan  of  Turkey." 

A  Farewell  Letter  from  a  Prominent  Armenian. 
March  24,  1896. 

"  We  are  evidently  a  doomed  people.  A  hundred 
thousand  of  us  have  been  butchered,  and  more  than 
a  million  of  us  are  in  extreme  suffering  from  hunger, 
and  cold,  and  nakedness.  Multitudes  beyond  the 
reach  of  foreign  aid  must  inevitably  perish  before 
spring.  As  to  the  rest  of  us,  our  supplies  of  food 
and  money  are  rapidly  diminishing.  We  can  prose- 
cute no  business,  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  earn  our 
daily  bread,  and  for  even  the  most  fortunate,  the 
future  has  only  the  prospect  of  starvation  a  little  later 
than  our  poor  brethren. 

"  We  hear  the  announcement  that  order  and  peace 
are  being  restored,  but  to  us  these  are  empty  words. 
The  terrible  and  wholesale  massacre  at  Oorfa  and  Bir- 
idjik  occurred  long  subsequent  to  the  most  solemn  and 
emphatic  assurances  that  nothing  more  of  the  kind 
was  to  be  apprehended,  —  long  after  the  commission 
sent  out  from  Constantinople  to  carry  the  message  of 


332  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

peace  and  reform  to  Armenia  had  reached  its  field  of 
labor. 

^'  Massacres  are  not  now  so  frequent  as  they  were 
a  few  months  ago,  but  the  attitude  of  relentless  hos- 
tility on  the  part  of  the  government  towards  us,  the 
ferocious  aspect  of  our  Moslem  neighbors,  has  not  a 
whit  improved.  They  seem  to  be  eagerly  watching 
for  an  opportune  moment  in  which  to  finish  their 
bloody  work,  and  rid  themselves  forever  of  this  trouble- 
some demand  for  reform. 

"  May  we  not  then  rightfully  offer  our  farewell 
message  to  our  fellow  men  ? 

^' First  —  To  our  Moslem  fellow  countrymen: 

"  We  desire  to  express  our  deepest  gratitude  to 
those  of  you  who  have  sympathized  with  and  helped 
us  in  these  days  of  calamity  and  bloodshed.  Towards 
those  who  have  robbed  and  massacred  us,  and  plun- 
dered and  burned  our  houses,  we  have  chiefiy  feel- 
ings of  compassion.  You  have  perhaps  done  these 
terrible  things  in  what  has  seemed  to  you  the  service 
of  your  religion  and  government. 

"  Second  —  To  our  Sultan  —  most  dread    and 
potent  sovereign: 

"  Apparently  you  have  been  persuaded  that  we 
are  a  rebellious  people  deserving  only  utter  and  speedy 
extermination.  For  such  as  you,  this  work  of  de- 
struction is  no  doubt  an  easy  one,  the  more  so  as 
we  have  had  neither  the  means  nor  the  disposition  to 
resist  it. 

"  Third  —  To  the  European  powers : 

"  We.  have  not  been  an  importunate  nor  a  turbu- 
lent people.  We  did  not  incite  the  Crimean  War,  nor 
any  of  the  subsequent  wars  which  have  stricken  this 
empire.  It  is  not  of  our  will  that  we  were  begotten 
to  a  new  political  life  by  the  treaty  of  1856.  Our 
complaints  and  appeals  have  been  based  solely  on 


THE  TUKlvlSH  ATROCITIES  IN  ARMENIA.      333 

the  sentiment  of  humanity  and  the  common  rights  of 
man.  It  was  you  who  arranged  the  '^  scheme  of  re- 
forms," and  urged  it  upon  our  Sultan  till  he  was  ir- 
ritated to  the  extent  that  he  seems  to  have  adopted 
the  plan  of  ridding  himself  finally  of  this  annoyance 
by  exterminating  us  as  a  people;  and  now,  while  he 
is  relentlessly  carrying  out  this  plan,  you  are  standing 
by  as  spectators  and  witnesses  of  this  bloody  work. 

^'  We  wonder  if  sympathy  and  the  brotherhood  of 
n.an  and  chivalry  are  wholly  things  of  the  past,  or 
are  the  material  and  political  interests  dividing  you 
so  great  that  the  massacre  of  the  whole  people  is  a 
secondary  thing  ?  In  either  case  "  We  who  are  about 
to  die  salute  you." 

"  Fourth  —  To  the  Christians  of  America: 
"  Although  we  have  cherished  strong  prejudice 
against  your  mission  work  among  us,  recent  events 
have  proved  that  our  Protestant  brethren  are  one  with 
us,  and  have  shared  fully  our  anxieties  and  our  perils. 
You  have  labored  through  them  to  promote  among  us 
the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  gospel.  It  is  not  your 
fault  that  one  result  of  their  teaching  and  example 
has  been  to  excite  our  masters  against  us.  The  Turk- 
ish government  dreads  and  dislikes  nothing  so  much  as 
the  ideas  of  progress  which  you  have  sent  us." 


VIII. 

THE  AEMENIANS  OF  TO-DAY. 

There  are  about  five  millions  of  Armenians  in  the 
world  at  present:  three  millions  in  the  Turkish  Em- 
pire, a  million  and  a  half  in  Russian  Armenia,  and 
half  a  million  more  scattered  through  Persia,  India, 
and  Burmah,  Egypt,  Europe  (there  are  two  or  three 
hundred  thousand  in  the  Austrian  Empire),  and 
America.  There  are  poor  and  ignorant  people  among 
them,  as  among  every  people;  the  majority,  however, 
are  (or  were  before  the  late  horrors)  well  off,  and 
many  of  them  rich,  educated,  refined,  and,  in  a  word, 
modern  Christian  people.  Of  all  the  impudent  inver- 
sions of  truth  ever  perpetrated,  the  most  outrageously 
impudent  and  shamelessly  the  exact  contrary  of  fact 
is  the  assertion  of  Mavroyeni  Bey,  the  Turkish  min- 
ister at  Washington,  that  the  case  of  the  Turks  against 
the  Armenians  is  like  that  of  the  whites  against  the 
Indians  in  this  country;  that  the  American  whites 
must  be  allowed  to  keep  the  Indians  down,  and  the 
Turks  must  be  allowed  to  keep  the  Armenians  down. 
If  the  Indians  possessed  all  the  money,  all  the  intel- 
ligence, all  the  cultivation,  and  all  the  morals  in  Amer- 
ica, and  the  whites  were  a  mob  of  ignorant,  cruel,  lust- 
ful ruffians  holding  them  down  by  the   organized 

(334) 


5      •     »        »     »  9 


AN  ARMENIAN  FAMILY. 


ANATOLIA  COLLEGE  AT  MARSOVAN. 


THE  ARMENIANS  OF  TO-DAY.  386 

power  of  the  sword,  the  comparison  would  be  just.  As 
it  is,  tlie  Turks  correspond  fairly  enough  with  the  In- 
dians, and  the  Armenians  to  the  whites,  in  every  other 
respect  than  military  power.  Does  a  Turk  —  a  true 
Turk  —  ever  write  a  book  ?  Does  he  ever  publish 
a  newspaper,  or  read  one  i  Does  he  ever  build  a 
church,  or  pay  attention  to  the  moral  precepts  taught 
in  one  '(  Does  he  ever  found  or  manage  a  business, 
or  even  an  estate  ?  In  a  word,  does  he  have  any  more 
intellectual,  moral,  or  business  part  in  the  life  of  mod- 
em civilization  than  a  Hottentot  or  a  Matabele  ?  And 
do  not  the  Armenians  do  and  have  all  these  things  ? 
Are  they  not  in  the  stream  of  the  same  kind  of  cul- 
tivated Christian  life  led  by  Americans  ?  Nowhere 
else  on  earth,  but  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  can  one  find 
millions  of  gentlemen  and  ladies  and  civilized  modem 
citizens  ruled  over,  oppressed,  and  massacred  in  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  by  a  gang  of  mediaeval  Asiatic 
barbarians,  not  advanced  from  the  time  of  Timour  or 
Jenghiz  Khan.  It  is  the  greatest  anarchronism  and 
monstrosity  of  modern  times. 

If  my  work  is  thought  prejudiced,  listen  to  what 
is  said  of  them  by  men  of  the  first  authority,  —  the 
greatest  statesmen,  the  best  informed  special  corre- 
spondent, and  one  of  the  chief  historians  of  England 
at  the  present  time.     First  the  statesman: — 

"  The  Armenians  are  the  representatives  of  one 
of  the  oldest  civilized  Christian  races,  and  beyond  all 
doubt  one  of  the  most  pacific,  one  of  the  most  industri- 
ous, and  one  of  tlic  most  intelligent  races  in  the  world." 
—  [Gladstone. 


386  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Xext  tlie  special  correspondent: — 

*^  The  Armenians  constitute  the  whole  civilizing  ele- 
ment in  Anatolia  (Asia  Minor) ;  peaceful  to  the  degree 
of  self-sacritice,  law-abiding  to  their  own  undoing, 
aiul  industrious  andTEopeful  under  conditions  which 
would  appall  the  majority  of  mankind.  At  their  best, 
they  are  the  stuff  of  which  heroes  and  martyrs  are 
moulHed."— [E.  J.  Dillon. 

Lastly  the  historian : — 

'^  The  best  chance  for  the  future  of  the  Asiatic 
provinces  of  Turkey  lies  in  the  uprising  of  a  progress- 
ive Christian  people,  which  may  ultimately  grow  into 
an  independent  Christian  state.  The  Armenians  have, 
alone  among  the  races  of  Western  Asia,  the  gifts  that 
can  enable  them  to  aspire  to  this  mission.  They  are 
keen-witted,  energetic,  industrious,  apt  to  learn,  and 
quick  in  assimilating  western  ideas.'' — [James  Bryce. 

IN  THE  TURKISH  EMPIRE. 

There  are  about  two  millions  of  Armenians  in  Ar- 
menia Proper,  and  another  million  scattered  through 
the  rest  of  the  empire.  The  absurd  figures  given  by 
some  writers,  making  them  greatly  less  than  this  (one 
magazine  editor  got  it  down  to  300,000  !  It  is  sig- 
nificant that  he  was  a  strong  apologist  for  the  mas- 
sacre, and  laid  all  the  blame  to  the  Armenians)  result 
mostly  from  taking  the  official  statistics  of  the  Turk- 
ish government,  ^ow,  there  are  three  reasons  why 
these  are  always  grossly  wrong;  of  no  more  value  than 
the  weather  predictions  in  an  almanac,  and  always 
Avrong  in  the  direction  of  understating  the  numbers. 

One  is  that  it  is  the  Sultan's  interest  to  make  them 
as  small  as  possible,  that  the  Armenians  may  not  be 


THE  ARMENIANS  OF  TO-DAY.  337 

considered  to  have  the  right  to  autonomy  as  a  nation ; 
the  fewer  they  are,  and  the  more  outnumbered  by  the 
Turks,  the  less  right  they  seem  to  have.  "  An  in- 
dependent Armenia  ? "  shriek  the  Turkish  ministers 
and  ojfficers.  "  Why,  there  are  only  a  few  hundred 
thousand  Armenians  in  their  so-called  country,  and 
even  so,  there  are  three  Turks  to  one  Armenian  in 
that  very  district  !  " 

The  second  is  that  in  an  Oriental  country  a  census 
is  not  a  means  of  knowledge  but  an  engine  of  taxation. 
The  ruler  has  no  care  for  information  on  the  subject 
for  his  own  sake,  as  Western  governments  have.  What 
he  wants  is  to  see  how  many  people  and  in  what  places 
he  can  screw  more  taxes  out  of.  The  people  know 
this  as  well  as  he,  and  use  every  effort  to  outwit  his 
agents,  and  prevent  them  from  knowing  their  num- 
bers. This  is  why  even  civilized  governments  ruling 
over  Oriental  nations  can  rarely  get  any  nearer  than  a 
rough  guess  at  the  numbers  of  the  nation;  the  inhabi- 
tants are  suspicious,  and  resort  to  falsehood.  In  the 
case  of  the  Armenians,  remember  what  I  said  in  the 
first  chapter  about  an  Armenian  being  taxed  for  every 
male  child  he  has,  every  year  as  long  as  the  child  lives; 
naturally,  he  will  not  tell  the  number  of  his  children 
unless  he  has  to.  Here  is  a  practical  illustration. 
Some  years  ago  I  was  in  an  Armenian  village  when 
the  Sultan's  officers  came  to  take  the  census.  There 
were  about  300  persons  in  the  village;  the  officer 
wrote  200,  because  only  a  few  names  of  boys  were 
given  him  out  of  the  whole.     The  tax  is  based  on 


338  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

the  registration,  and  if  you  can  keep  off  the  registers 
you  can  escape  the  tax. 

The  third  is  the  gross  incompetence,  the  corrup- 
tion, and  the  drunkenness  of  the  officers.  The  Turk- 
ish officials,  governors,  mayors,  clerks,  generals,  sol- 
diers, all  drink  any  sort  of  liquor  they  can  lay  hands 
on,  and  are  drunk  as  often  and  as  long  as  sober;  they 
are  so  ignorant  that  they  cannot  do  their  work  decently 
even  when  they  are  sober;  and  they  are  utterly  venal, 
without  the  least  sense  of  official  obligation.  What 
sort  of  a  census  is  likely  to  be  taken  by  these  ignorant, 
whiskey-swilling,  venal  barbarians  ?  One  of  these 
officials,  whom  I  know  well,  once  came  to  a  village 
to  take  the  census.  The  Armenians  got  him  so  drunk 
that  he  barked  like  a  dog,  bribed  him,  and  he  put  down 
about  half  the  number  of  the  population. 

How,  then,  do  I  know  the  correct  number  ?  From 
a  knowledge  of  the  districts,  the  numbers  of  villages, 
and  statistics  resting  on  a  better  foundation  than  the 
above.  I  do  not  pretend  that  the  number  is  exact; 
but  it  is  near  enough  for  practical  purposes. 

The  Armenians  in  Turkey  are  divided  into  four 
classes.  The  first  comprises  merchants  and  bankers. 
The  second  is  the  professional  class:  physicians,  pro- 
fessors, teachers,  and  preachers.  The  third  is  that  of 
artisans:  weavers,  blacksmiths,  copper,  silver,  and 
gold  smiths,  tailors,  shoemakers,  etc.  The  finest 
Oriental  rugs  are  made  by  the  Armenians,  and  there 
are  weavers  of  silk  and  cotton  goods,  and  all  kinds  of 
hand-made  embroidery.     There  are  no  factories  in 


THE  ARMENIANS  OF  TO-DAY.  339 

Armenia.  The  fourth  class  is  that  of  farmers,  a  pure, 
simple,  industrious  class,  with  beautiful  farms,  vine- 
yards, and  orchards,  whose  products  I  have  described. 
One-tenth  of  all  the  Armenians  in  Turkey  are  in 
Constantinople.  Many  of  them  are  poor,  in  the  na- 
ture of  things;  but  the  leading  bankers,  merchants, 
and  capitalists  there  are  Armenians,  surpassing  even 
the  Greeks  and  Jews.  I  give  a  few  representative 
names:  Gulbenkian,  Essayian,  Azarian,  Mosditchian, 
Manougian,  Oonjian.  The  physicians  in  largest 
practice  are  Armenians:  Khorassanjian,  Mateosian, 
Dobrashian,  Yartanian,  etc.  The  Sultan's  personal 
treasurer  is  an  Armenian,  Portukalian  Pasha.  The 
chief  counselor  in  the  foreign  office  in  Constantino- 
ple is  an  Armenian,  Haroutiune  Dadian  Pasha.  The 
greatest  lawyers  are  Armenians:  Mosditchian,  Tin- 
guerian,  etc.  The  chief  photographers  of  the  Sultan 
are  Armenians,  Abdullah  Brothers  and  Sebali,  the 
former  considered  one  of  the  best  photographic  firms 
in  the  world.  The  personal  jeweler  of  the  Sultan  is 
an  Armenian,  Mr.  Chiboukjian.  For  all  his  hate  of 
the  Armenians,  he  has  to  employ  them,  for  no  others 
are  competent  or  trustworthy.  The  best  musicians  are 
Armenians:  Chonkhajian  Surenian,  Doevletian,  and 
an  Armenian  young  lady  named  Nartoss,  who  often 
plays  the  piano  before  the  Sultan.  The  greatest  ora- 
tor in  Constantinople  is  an  Armenian  and  a  professor 
in  Robert  College,  Prof.  H.  Jejizian,  to  my  thinking, 
superior  to  either  Beecher,  Wendell  Phillips,  or  Robert 
Ingersoll,  all  of  whom  I  have  heard.     Finally,  the  Ar- 


340  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

menians,  as  a  whole,  form  the  best  "  society  "  in  Con- 
stantinople, and  their  modes  of  living,  dress,  houses, 
and  ways  are  precisely  like  those  of  Americans  or 
Europeans.     These  are  Mavroyeni  Bey's  "  Indians  "  ! 

Smyrna  is  a  city  of  150,000  or  more  population. 
About  80,000  are  Greeks;  you  may  call  it  a  Greek 
city.  The  Armenians  there  number  about  8,000,  or 
one-tenth  of  the  Greeks,  but  are  ten  times  richer  than 
all  the  Greeks  together.  The  principal  buildings  are 
owned  by  Armenians;  the  business  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  Armenians.  The  chief  business  men  are  well- 
known  in  Europe.  Mr.  Balyivzian  owns  many  steam- 
ers which  ply  on  the  Mediterranean.  *  Mr.  Spartalian  is 
another  very  rich  and  very  benevolent  man;  he  built 
a  magnificent  hospital  at  Smyrna.  In  Samsoun,  Marso- 
van,  Cesarea,  Adana,  Amassia,  Tocat,  Sivas,  Har- 
poot,  Mesere,  Malatia,  Diarbekir,  Arabkir,  Oorf a,  Ain- 
tab,  iMarash,  Tarsus,  Angora,  Erzeroun,  Erzinghan, 
Moosh,  Bitlis,  Baiburt,  Trebizond,  —  in  a  word,  every- 
where it  is  the  same. ,  Go  where  you  like  in  Turkey, 
you  find  the  Armenians  at  the  top. 

When  I  say  they  are  the  richest,  I  mean  until 
early  in  1894  they  were  the  richest.  But  now,  in 
many  cities  of  Armenia  proper,  since  the  recent  atroci- 
ties, they  have  become  the  poorest. 

Leading  citizens,  and  the  fathers  of  families,  for 
the  reasons  I  have  mentioned,  were  specially  singled 
out  for  vengeance.  Their  stores,  banks,  and  houses 
were  plundered  and  then  burnt,  their  money  and 
jewelry  taken  from  them,  and  then  they  were  mur- 


THE  ARMENIANS  OF  TO-DAY.  341 

dered  wholesale.  Xow  the  Turks  and  the  Kurds  for 
a  time  are  rich  with  Armenian  property;  wearing  the 
gold  watches  of  Armenian  gentlemen,  their  women 
wearing  the  jewelry  of  Armenian  ladies. 

IN  RUSSIA. 

The  Armenians  in  Russia  are  the  richest  and  the 
most  cultivated  of  any  in  the  world,  and  have  great  in- 
fluence. Mr.  Kasbarian,  an  Armenian,  is  considered 
the  richest  even  of  them.  The  rich  city  of  Tiflis  is 
practically  an  Armenian  city. 

There  are  about  50,000  regular  Armenian  sol- 
diers in  the  Russian  army,  and  some  of  its  greatest 
generals  have  always  been  Armenians. 

If  the  Czar  would  permit  this  force  and  the  capi- 
talists to  settle  the  Armenian  question,  they  would  do 
it  in  a  month,  and  make  Armenia  free.  The  Arme- 
nians have  so  far  been  treated  very  kindly  and  have 
prospered  exceedingly  in  Russia,  but  T  do  not  believe 
it  will  last.  In  my  opinion,  the  young  Czar  is  only 
waiting  for  his  coronation  to  oppress  the  Armenians 
as  he  has  the  Jews.  Yet  the  Czar's  ablest  servants 
and  advisers  have  been  Armenians.  The  body-guard 
of  Mcholas'  grandfather  Alexander  was  the  Arme- 
nian Count  Loris  ^TelikoflF,  universally  known;  three 
times  wounded  by  Xihilists  on  account  of  his  position. 
During  the  last  Turko-Russian  war  some  of  the  gen- 
erals who  accomplished  the  most  with  the  least  sacri- 
fice were  Armeniaiis:  Der,  Lucasoff,  Lazareff,  Meli- 
koiT.  There  are  now  no  less  than  eighteen  Arme- 
nian generals  in  the  Russian  service.     I  will  mention 


342  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

a  part:  General  Sdepan  Kislimishian,  commander  of 
Caucasus;  General  Hagop  Alkhazian,  General  Alex- 
ander Lalayian,  General  Demedr  Der  Asadoorian, 
General  Ishkhan  Manuelian,  General  Alexander  Gor- 
ganian,  General  Ishkhan  Gochaminassian,  General 
Khosros  Touloukhanian,  General  Arakel  Khantamir- 
ian,  General  H.  Dikranian.  There  are  many  other 
prominent  Armenian  officers. 

In  Moscow,  St.  Petersburg,  and  other  great  cities 
in  Russia  there  are  many  Armenian  professors  in  the 
universities,  mayors  of  cities,  judges  of  courts,  and 
high  civil  officers.  I  will  give  a  few  of  their  names, 
to  show  that  I  am  not  talking  blindly: 

Count  Hovhannes  Telyanian,  minister  of  educa- 
tion, etc. 

Gamazian,  minister  of  foreign  affairs  in  Asia. 

Muguerditch  Emin,  counselor  of  education. 

Nerses  Nersessian,  professor  in  Moscow  in  the 
Royal  University. 

Dr.  Shilantz,  professor  in  the  medical  college  at 
Kharcof. 

Boghos  Gamparian,  superintendent  of  the  Royal 
army  of  Riza. 

Melikian,  professor  of  natural  sciences  in  the  Uni- 
versity at  Odessa. 

A.  Madinian,  mayor  of  Tiflis. 

V.  Keghamian,  mayor  of  Erevan. 

H.  Moutaffian,  mayor  of  Akheltzka. 

Hundreds  and  thousands  are  high  officers  in  dif- 


THE  ARMENIANS  OF  TO-DAY.  343 

ferent  departments  of  the  Russian  government,  but 
there  is  no  space  to  give  a  roll  of  them. 

One,  however,  a  personal  friend,  I  must  write  a 
few  words  of,  namely.  Professor  John  Ayvazovski,  of 
the  council  of  the  St.  Petersburg  Academy  of  Fine 
Arts,  a  marine  painter  of  the  first  rank.  He  is  now 
79,  but  looks  scarcely  60,  with  beautiful  large,  bright 
eyes.  He  came  to  the  World's  Fair,  where  fifteen  of 
his  pictures  were  exhibited  in  the  Russian  section ;  and 
he  presented  two  other  fine  ones  to  the  American  peo- 
ple in  recognition  of  their  help  to  the  Russian  famine 
sufferers,  —  one  showing  the  arrival  in  port  of  a 
steamer  with  its  cargo  of  grain,  the  other  the  advent  of 
a  drosky  at  a  village  of  starving  people,  with  a  man  in 
front  waving  an  American  flag.  He  visited  and 
painted  an  excellent  picture  of  Niagara.  He  had 
seven  pictures  at  the  Philadelphia  Exposition  of  1876. 
His  paintings  are  mostly  in  royal  palaces:  there  are 
120  in  that  of  the  Russian  imperial  family,  and  34  in 
the  Sultan's.  His  own  gallery,  at  Theodosia,  Russia, 
has  84.  He  has  received  many  prizes  from  exposi- 
tions. He  is  also  a  great  scholar  and  a  good  Chris- 
tian. His  brother,  who  lately  died,  was  one  of  the 
greatest  bishops  of  the  Armenian  church. 

There  is  a  very  interesting  story  about  Professor 
Ayvazovski 's  boyhood  which  I  will  give  here: 

His  parents  were  Armenian  peasants,  living  in  a 
village  not  far  from  Moscow.  One  day  Nicholas  I 
was  passing  by  the  hamlet  on  horseback,  and  dropped 
his  whip.     The  Emperor  beckoned  to  young  Ayvaz- 


344  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

ovski,  and  told  him  to  pick  it  up.  The  boy  approached 
boldly  and  asked,  "  Who  are  you  ?  "  iSTicholas  re- 
plied, "  I  am  the  Emperor."  The  boy  rejoined,  "  If 
you  cannot  take  care  of  your  whip,  how  can  you  take 
care  of  your  subjects  ?  "  The  Emperor  was  pleased 
at  this  remark,  and  ordered  him  to  be  educated  at  his 
own  expense,  and  in  any  profession  he  chose.  He 
took  to  the  brush,  and  is  the  pride  of  his  nation. 

IN  PERSIA,  INDIA,  ETC. 

The  Armenians  of  Persia  are  great  merchants, 
and  high  civil  officers  of  the  Shah.  I  name  only  a 
few: 

Chahanguir  Khan  is  minister  of  arts  and  superin- 
tendent of  the  arsenal. 

Nirza  Melkoum  Khan  was  the  former  ambassador 
of  the  Shah  at  London;  a  man  of  great  wealth  and 
learning,  and  an  able  diplomat.  He  retired  on  ac- 
count of  age,  and  lives  in  London. 

!N^azar  Agha  was  ambassador  of  the  Shah  at  Paris. 

General  Sharl  Bezirganian  is  the  general  superin- 
tendent of  the  telegraph  service  in  Persia. 

In  India  and  Burmah  there  are  great  Armenian 
merchants,  who  are  millionaires,  and  respected  by  the 
governments  and  the  peoples. 

In  Egypt,  though  few  in  number,  they  are  the 
ruling  element.  Xubar  Pasha  was  the  prime  minister 
of  the  Egyptian  government  until  a  few  weeks  ago; 
one  of  the  richest  men  in  Egypt,  and  the  greatest 
statesman  in  Africa.  He  speaks  several  languages, 
and  spends  his  summers  in  France,  owning  property  in 


THE  ARMENIANS  OF  TO-DAY.  346 

Paris.     Dikran  Pasha  is  another  rich  and  very  gifted 
Armenian,  and  Jioghos  Pasha  another  man  of  power. 

IN  EUROPE. 

There  are  very  rich  merchants  among  the  Ar- 
menians at  Vienna,  Paris,  Marseilles,  London,  and 
Manchester.  There  is  a  strong  Armenian  colony  at 
Manchester.  All  of  them  are  merchants,  and 
some  of  them  millionaires.  Almost  the  whole  clothing 
trade  between  England  and  Turkey  is  in  their  hands. 
They  have  a  beautiful  Armenian  church  there,  and 
always  a  learned  Armenian  bishop;  I  speak  from 
knowledge  and  observation.  They  are  much  respected 
by  the  English.  Some  of  the  Armenian  gentlemen 
are  married  to  English  ladies  of  good  family,  and 
their  domestic  life  is  very  happy.  Prince  Loosinian, 
an  Armenian,  a  very  great  scholar,  and  much  respected 
by  the  French,  lives  in  Paris;  he  is  descended  from' 
the  last  Armenian  dynasty.  His  brother  Khoren 
!N^ar-Bey  Loosinian  was  one  of  the  foremost  Armenian 
bishops;  the  Sultan  of  course  hated  him,  and  it  is  said 
had  him  poisoned  while  imprisoned  in  Constantinople. 

The  Armenian  scholars  in  Europe  are  well-known, 
and  on  a  level  with  the  best  of  any  country.  There 
is  not  an  institution  of  learning  in  Europe  where  they 
are  not  to  be  found,  either  as  students  or  professors; 
and  the  prizes  and  medals  they  win  are  many. 

There  are  two  great  centers  in  Europe  for  the 
Armenian  scholars  and  authors:  one  at  Vienna  and 
the  other  at  Venice.  They  have  colleges  and  printing 
presses  in  these  places;  and  they  write,  translate,  and 


346  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

publish  themselves  in  nearly  all  languages  all  sorts 
of  valuable  books.  So  the  Armenian  people  are  well 
supplied  with  the  best  modern  books.  But  it  must 
be  remembered  that  these  valuable  books  are  forbidden 
by  the  Sultan  to  go  into  Turkish  Armenia;  he  wants 
the  people  kept  ignorant.  Some  of  their  great  schol- 
ars came  home  from  Europe  to  preach  and  teach  in 
Armenia,  to  elevate  their  nation;  but  some  were  killed 
and  some  banished  during  the  recent  atrocities. 

IN  AMERICA. 

The  Armenians  are  a  new  people  in  America. 
Seventeen  years  ago,  when  the  writer  first  came  to 
this  country,  there  were  not  more  than  a  hundred  in 
the  United  States;  since  then  about  10,000  have  come, 
most  of  them  within  ten  years.  The  first  ones  came 
about  forty-five  years  ago,  among  them  Mr.  Minasian 
and  Mr.  Sahagian,  —  both  poor  young  men,  now  both 
rich.  Mr.  Minasian  lives  at  Brooklyn;  Mr.  Sahagian 
at  Yonkers,  N.  Y.  Those  who  have  come  lately  are 
mostly  the  poorer  class;  they  fled  from  the  "  order  "  of 
the  Sultan,  and  not  being  allowed  to  leave  Turkey, 
bribed  the  police  and  ran  away.  ISTot  knowing  the 
English  language,  they  work  in  factories  in  various 
States.  There  are  some  well-to-do  merchants,  how- 
ever, doing  business  in  ^ew  York,  Boston,  and  else- 
where, handling  Oriental  rugs,  dry-goods,  etc.  Some 
of  the  "New  York  names  are  Gulbenkian,  Topakian, 
Tavshandjian,  Yardimian,  Chaderdjian,  Telfeyian, 
Kostikian.  Tn  Boston  are  Ateshian,  Bogigian,  etc. 
Mr.  Kebabian  is  in  ^ew  Haven;  Mr.  Enfiyedjian  in 


THE  ARMENIANS  OF  TO-DAY.  347 

Denver.  There  are  many  otkers  also  in  other  large 
cities. 

Besides  merchants,  there  are  many  professional 
men  among  them,  abont  a  dozen  physicians  in  New 
York  city  alone:  Dr.  Dadirian,  Dr.  Gabrielian,  Dr. 
Ayvazian,  Dr.  Apkarian,  Dr.  Altarian,  Dr.  Koutoo- 
jian.  Some  of  them  are  engravers  and  photographers. 
In  New  York  city  there  are  llagopian,  Kasparian, 
Matigian,  and  others,  very  skillful  engravers.  In 
Boston  there  is  the  New  England  Engraving  Co., 
who  are  Armenians;  the  manager  is  Mr.  G.  Papazian. 

There  are  about  half  a  dozen  Armenians  who  are 
pastors  of  American  churches  in  different  states. 
About  a  dozen  are  special  lecturers  on  the  Armenian 
atrocities:  Mr.  H.  Kiretchjian,  the  secretary  of  the 
American  Relief  Association,  Mr.  Samuelian,  Rev. 
A.  Bulgurgian,  Rev.  S.  Deviryian,  Mr.  S.  Yenovkian, 
etc. 

There  are  hundreds  of  Armenian  students  dis- 
tributed among  nearly  all  the  universities,  colleges, 
and  theological  seminaries  in  America,  and  most  of 
them  are  of  a  superior  sort.  The  greatest  physicians 
in  Turkey  are  Armenians,  who  were  graduated  from 
different  medical  colleges  in  this  country.  Some  of 
the  leading  pastors  and  professors  in  Armenia,  who 
were  banished  and  killed  during  the  recent  atrocities, 
were  graduated  in  this  country. 

Of  the  factory  hands  mentioned,  there  are  about 
1,000  in  Worcester,  Mass.;  about  800  in  New  York 
and  Brooklyn;  about  400  in  Boston,  and  the  remainder 


348  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

are  scattered  everywhere  from  'New  York  to  Califor- 
nia, from  Maine  to  Florida. 

A  number  of  Armenian  young  men  have  married 
American  women;  I  believe  ninety  per  cent,  are  happy. 
After  forty  or  fifty  years,  there  will  be  a  large  class 
of  American  citizens  of  Armenian  blood,  and  many 
millionaires  among  them.  They  are  gifted  in  busi- 
ness, and  they  are  a  sober,  honest,  and  faithful  people. 
I  do^hot  think  that  there  is  a  single  criminal  among 
the  10,000  Armenians  in  this  country. 

Some  of  the  Armenian  daily  and  weekly  news- 
papers are  as  follows: 

In  Constantinople:  Arevelk,  Avedaper,  Puragn, 
Dyaghig,  Ilayrenik,  Masis,  Pounch. 

In  Smyrna:     Arevlian  Mamoul. 

In  Etchmiazin:     Ararat. 

In  Tiflis:  Aghpour,  Artzakank,  Mishag,  Murj, 
N^or-Tar,  Darak. 

In  Venice:     Pazmaveb. 

In  Vienna:     Hantes  Arnsoria. 

In  Marseilles:     Armenia. 

In  London:     L'Armenic. 

In  New  York:     Haik. 

Wherever  the  Armenians  go  they  carry  with  them- 
selves the  church,  the  school,  and  the  press. 

THE  ARMENIAN  RELIEF  ASSOCIATION. 

This  association  is  putting  forth  every  effort  to 
alle'vnate  the  sufferings  of  needy  Armenians  wherever 
they  may  be  found;  their  work  has  already  resulted  in 
untold  blessings  and  it  deserves  the  hearty  support  and 


THE  ARMENIANS  OF  TO-DAY.  349 

contributions  of  the  benevolent  public.  The  officers 
of  the  association  are  the  following  well-known  An_eri- 
can  and  Armenian  gentlemen; 

Right  Rev.  Bishop  H.  Y.  Satterlee,  D.D.,  presi- 
dent. 

Hon.  Levi  P.  Morton,  first  vice-president. 

Right  Rev.  Bishop  Potter,  D.D.,  second  vice-pres- 
ident. 

Charles  H.  Stout,  Esq.,  treasurer. 

J.  Bleeker  Miller,  Esq.,  chairman  executive  com- 
mittee. 

Nicholas  R.  Mersereau,  Esq.,  secretary. 

Herant  M.  Kiretchjian,  general  secretary. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Haygooni,  A.M.,  organizing  secretary. 

Mr.  H.  K.  Samuelian,  agent. 

The  headquarters  of  the  association  is  in  New 
York. 


IX. 

THE  FUTUKE  OF  ARMENIA  AND  THE 
BATTLE  OF  ARMAGEDDON. 

I  am  going  to  predict  the  future  of  Armenia.  Not 
in  the  usual  sense  of  guessing  at  it,  but  in  the  literal 
sense  of  foretelling  the  truth.  I  am  not  a  prophet  of 
God,  yet  my  prediction  is  based  on  facts,  and  its  ac- 
curacy should  be  given  some  credit  from  the  way  my 
predictions  two  or  three  years  ago  about  the  recent 
atrocities  that  have  already  taken  place,  have  come 
true  to  the  letter.  At  that  time  no  American  or  Euro- 
pean could  be  made  to  believe  that  such  horrors  would 
be  perpetrated;  but  I  said  they  would  be,  and  they 
were.  And  even  now  the  Western  peoples  are  nearly 
as  blind  as  ever;  they  cannot  see  the  future  of  Arme- 
nia even  with  all  the  facts  before  them.  Many  have 
lost  hope  in  it  altogether;  they  think  Turkey  will  exist 
forever,  and  exterminate  the  last  of  the  Armenians. 
Doubtless  I  should  in  their  place,  but  I  was  born  in 
Turkey  and  know  the  situation. 

This,  then,  is  the  truth  as  I  forecast  it: — 
Till  the  end  of  next  year  the  Armenians  will 
suffer  more  than  ever  before.     Perhaps  a  million  will 
be  massacred  yet,  not  only  in  Turkey,  but  in  Russia. 

(350)  '    • 


THE  BATTLE  OF  ARMAGEDDON.  351 

The  Jews,  also,  in  great  numbers,  and  not  only  the 
Jews  and  the  Armenians,  but  the  Americans  and 
Englishmen  too.  The  key  rests  in  the  character  of  the 
present  Czar.  Nicholas  II  is  not  like  his  father  or 
grandfather,  a  strong  man.  I  will  not  discuss  the 
moral  character  of  the  two  Alexanders,  but  I  allow 
their  powerful  intellects  and  strong  wills.  They 
favored  the  Annenians.  But  the  present  Czar  has  no 
strength  of  character  at  all;  he  is  weak  both  in  intellect 
and  morals.  The  Sultan  is  called  the  sick  man  of 
Tjm-key,  but  the  Czar  is  the  sick  man  of  Russia.  His 
short-sightedness  in  upholding  Turkey  is  one  proof. 
T"p  to  the  time  of  the  coronation  next  May  you  will 
see  no  more  massacres,  for  the  Czar  has  ordered  the 
Sultan  to  hold  his  hand,  that  there  may  be  a  peaceful 
ceremony,  not  clouded  with  horrors;  that  over,  he  will 
not  only  give  the  Sultan  leave  to  unchain  his  dogs, 
but  he  will  unchain  his  own.  The  atrocities  in  Turk- 
ish Armenia  will  be  redoubled,  and  the  Czar  him- 
self inflict  on  the  Armenians  all  that  has  been  in- 
flicted on  the  Jews.  Even  this  is  not  all:  The  Czar 
will  instruct  the  Sultan  to  get  rid  of  all  American  mis- 
sionaries, either  banishing  them  as  breeders  of  sedition, 
or,  if  they  refuse  to  go,  requiring  the  United  States 
government  to  order  them  back.  Probably  the  govern- 
ment will  obey.  Probably,  also,  the  missionaries  will 
not  obey  the  government;  they  will  stay  where  they 
are.  Then  the  Sultan  will  say  he  is  not  responsible  for 
their  lives,  and  will  issue  secret  orders  to  kill  them, 
which  will  be  carried  out.       Further,  the  Czar  will 


352  ARMENIA  AND  HER  l^EOPLE. 

begin  a  fresh  persecution  of  the  Jews,  and  order  the 
Sultan  to  follow  suit  on  the  Jews  in  Turkey,  which 
will  be  done ;  no  fear  of  the  Sultan's  refusing  an  order 
to  butcher  anybody.  Still  more,  the  Czar  will  com- 
mand him  in  secret  to  banish  the  English  missionaries 
from  Turkey;  the  Sultan  will  request  the  English 
government  to  call  them  back,  and  there  is  little  doubt 
that  Lord  Salisbury  will  comply;  but  they,  like  the 
Americans,  will  refuse  to  go.  Then  they  will  be  mur- 
dered by  secret  orders  from  the  Sultan,  who  will  say  he 
is  not  responsible  for  it.  These  massacres  will  continue 
for  two  years  more.  The  victims  will  cry  aloud,  the 
Americans  and  English  will  have  greater  mass-meet- 
ings, but  the  governments  of  both  will  do  nothing.  And 
Germany,  Austria,  and  Italy  will  look  calmly  on;  if 
they  act  it  will  be  with  the  Czar,  and  not  against  him. 
Meantime  both  in  Europe  and  America  the  war  pre- 
parations will  continue  with  greater  zeal  and  energy, 
until  the  cup  is  full,  until  the  crisis  comes;  then  the 
noble  blood  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  will  begin  to 
boil,  and  the  English  and  American  people  at  once  will 
be  aroused  like  one  man,  and  the  governments  will 
have  to  yield.  The  wrathful  Jews  will  contribute 
Jewish  capital  for  the  war  expenses ;  the  wrathful  Ar- 
menians throughout  the  world  will  give  both  money 
and  soldiers  to  the  governments  fighting  their  battles. 
And  a  fierce  battle  will  be  fought  between  Russia, 
Turkey,  and  France  on  one  side;  America,  England, 
the  Jews,  and  the  Armenians  on  the  other.  The 
former  alliance  will  be  beaten:   the   Czar's   Greek 


THE  BATTLE  OF  ARMAGEDDON.  ;]63 

Church  bigotry,  the  Sultan's  Mohammedan  fanati- 
cism, and  France's  infidelity  together  will  be  crushed ; 
"Russia  will  go  to  pieces,  Turkey  will  go  pieces,  Franco 
will  go  to  pieces;  Armenia  will  be  free,  Jndea  will  bo 
free.  The  scattered  Ai'iiicninns  will  i-ciiini  to  Ai-mc- 
nia,  the  ^cnltci-cd  -1('\\>  will  i-ctiirii  to  Judc;!.  Doth 
the  ArnicniiUH  niul  the  -lews  will  have  tlicir  scpnratc 
govei'iiiiK'iits;  not  liings,  not  princes,  but  a  clean  re- 
publican form  of  government.  Russia  and  Turkey 
will  be  opened  to  the  gospel  work.  Where  now  hun- 
dreds of  missionaries  are  going  from  England  and  Am- 
erica to  other  lands,  then  thousands  of  them  will  go; 
and  Christian  America  and  England  will  open  their 
hearts  and  purses  together  to  send  as  many  mission- 
aries as  they  can  to  Russia,  to  Turkey,  and  to  France. 
They  will  hasten  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
They  will  prepare  the  way  for  the  coming  King,  who 
has  the  power  both  in  heaven  and  on  the  earth. 

What  will  become  of  Germany,  Austria,  and  Italy, 
who  form  the  Triple  Alliance  ?  That  alliance  will  be 
dissolved.  The  German  Emperor  is  trying  hard  to 
maintain  it,  but  he  will  fail.  France  will  once  in  a 
while  threaten  Germany  with  vengeance,  but  she 
will  never  be  able  to  carry  it  out,  and  there  is  no  need 
for  it,  because  the  German  people  during  this  cen- 
tiTry  will  get  rid  of  their  Emperor.  There  will  be  a 
great  civil  war  in  Germany,  between  the  people  and 
the  army.  If  the  German  emperor  could  do  it,  h0 
would  begin  to  crush  the  Socialists  now.  He  ml) 
order  his  soldiers  to  kill  their  brothers  and  fathers. 


354  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

but  tliey  will  not,  —  tliey  are  not  as  foolish  as  the 
Emperor;  the  only  result  will  be  the  break-up  of  the 
German  Union,  and  the  division  of  Germany  into 
small  republican  governments.  Italy,  Austria,  and 
Spain  will  all  have  the  same  fate:  civil  war,  and 
splitting  into  small  republics.  'No  czars,  no  emperors, 
no  princes,  no  lords  will  remain.  Government  will  be 
for  the  people,  of  the  people,  by  the  people.  The 
time  has  come;  this  century  will  purify  the  whol^ 
world.  But  until  it  is  purified,  a  great  deal  of  fire 
will  burn,  very  great  battles  will  be  fought,  until  free- ' 
dom  and  peace  shall  reign.  And  the  Armenian  blood, 
now  continually  pouring  like  a  river  in  Armenia,  will 
be  the  cause  and  the  foundation  of  the  coming  freedom 
of  the  world.  For  the  present,  the  world  is  not  free; 
it  is  not  civilized.  It  cannot  be  with  such  rulers.  To 
be  free  and  happy,  the  people  must  be  aroused,  and  get 
rid  of  them.  The  United  States  must  be  the  example 
to  the  older  nations ;  they  must  embrace  Washington's 
principles. 

It  is  true  that  England  and  America  will  never 
go  regularly  to  work  to  give  freedom  to  Judea  and 
Armenia,  nor  with  that  intention.  Their  immediate 
inotive  will  be  to  punish  Russia  and  Turkey  for  the 
murder  of  the  missionaries,  and  after  the  victory  is 
won,  by  the  help  of  Jewish  and  Armenian  purses  and 
swOrds,  the  Armenians  and  Jews  will  be  rewarded  by 
giving  them  their  original  homes  and  mother-lands. 

This  will  be  laughed  at  by  many,  perhaps  most,  as 
a  romantic  and  pleasant  dream.      They  will  say  it  can 


THE  BATTLE  OF  ARMAGEDDON.      355 

never  be  accomplished  during  this  century;  perhaps 
in  the  future,  after  a  century  or  two,  but  not  now.  I 
am  used  to  this  incredulity;  my  predictions  are  never 
believed  at  the  time :  but  after  they  come  true  jthey 
are.  This  century  is  not  like  the  other  centuries;  a 
day  in  this  century  is  equal  to  a  year  of  those  which 
have  passed  away.  We  may  expect  from  a  year  of 
it  as  much  as  from  a  century  in  the  ancient  times. 
This  world  is  a  wonderful  world  now,  and  will  be  more 
wonderful  hereafter.  The  future  of  the  world  is 
bright,  and  the  world  will  be  brighter  and  happier. 

Why  do  I  keep  repeating  "  two  years  "  ?  Why 
do  I  not  say  one  year  or  three  years,  or  a  few  years  ? 
I  have  reasons  for  it:  one  is  the  political  situation  in 
Europe,  and  the  other  is  the  Bible  proplicfj  in  the 
Book  of  Revelation. 

THE  POLITICAL  SITUATION  IN  EUROPE. 
The  Europeans  have  already  made  great  prepara- 
tions for  battle.  Every  one  of  them  preaches  peace 
and  prepares  for  war;  and  none  of  them  have  finished 
their  preparations  yet,  —  if  they  had^  they  would_be 
in  the  thick  of  it  by  this  time.  Each  of  them  declares 
that  its  preparations  will  be  finished  about  the  end 
of  1897.  Russia  is  building  war-ships,  England  is 
building  war-ships,  France  is  building  war-ships,  and 
all  will  be  finished  about  the  end  of  1897.  All  pre- 
parations converge  on  the  end  of  1897.  When  all 
are  ready,  they  will  begin.  When  newspapers  write 
about  an  immediate  European  war,  I  do  not  believe  it. 
There  will  be  no  European  war  for  two  years;  but 


356  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

after  that  there  is  no  escape  from  it,  —  they  have  to 
fight,  and  will  fight.  The  war-ships  will  be  ready, 
the  cannon  will  be  ready,  the  guns  will  be  ready,  the 
ammunition  will  be  ready,  the  soldiers  will  be  ready. 

The  cunning  Sultan  knows  all  this,  and  is  in  a 
hurry  to  exterminate  the  Armenians,  so  that  whe© 
they  start  in  earnest  with  guns  to  reform  Armenia, 
he  can  say  there  is  no  Armenia  or  Armenians  to  re- 
form. But  that  makes  no  difference  for  the  European 
powers:  Turkey  is  doomed,  and  the  Turkish  Empire 
will  come  to  an  end  forever  within  this  century. 
There  will  never  be  any  more  Turkish  Empire  or  Mo- 
hammedan governiiu'iit;  all  the  Mohammedan  powers 
will  be  under  Christian  rule. 

The  second  reason  is  my  belief  in  the  Bible  prophe- 
cies. The  close  resemblance  of  the  Jews  and  Arme- 
nians will  be  observed  by  the  reader:  both  the 
chosen  people  of  God.  The  children  of  Israel 
were  the  chosen  ])oople  before  Christ,  and  as  the  Arme- 
nians became  the  first  Christian  nation  after  Christ, 
they  became  the  chosen  people  after  Christ.  And 
these  chosen  people  have  suffered  more  than  any  other 
nations  on  the  globe ;  they  have  had  more  martyrs  than 
any  other  nation,  and  have  been  carried  into  captivity, 
and  finally  scattered  throughout  the  world.  T^e 
Bible  lands  are  Palestine  and  Armenia,  where  the  first 
man,  Adam,  was  created,  and  where  Christ  was  born 
and  was  crucified;  and  so  these  lands  after  ChristTlfe- 
coming  the  first  Christian  lands,  became  the  Temple 
of  God, 


THE  BATTLE  OF  ARMAGEDDON.      SoT 

We  have  a  prophecy  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of 
Revelation  that  the  court  of  the  Temple  will  be  given 
unto  the  Gentiles,  and  the  Holy  City  shall  they  tread 
under  foot  forty  and  two  months;  "  and  I  will  give 
power  unto  my  two  witnesses,  and  they  shall  prophecy 
a  thousand  two  hundred  and  three  score  days,  clothed 
in  sackcloth."  (llev.  xi,  2-3.) 

Forty  and  two  months  and  a  thousand  two  hundred 
and  three  score  days  are  just  the  same  thing.  Each 
day  in  the  Bible  prophecy  is  one  year.  According  to 
this  interpretation,  which  I  consider  correct,  the  Holy 
City  will  be  trampled  by  the  Gentiles  one  thousand, 
two  hundred  and  sixty  years.  Xow  the  question  is  this, 
Where  is  the  Holy  City,  and  who  are  the  Gentilmwho 
will  trample  the  Holy  City  ?  First,  the  Holy  City,  is 
both  literally  the  Holy  City  before  Christy  and  spirit- 
ually the  Holy  City  after  Christ. 

Literally,  the  Holy  City  is  Jerusalem,  where  the 
Temple  of  God  was;  this  is  very  clear.  Spiritually, 
the  Holy  City  is  Christianity;  wherever  there  are 
Christians,  there  is  the  Holy  City.  But  this  is  very 
general,  and  takes  the  whole  world  after  it  is  Chris- 
tian. But  before  we  come  to  that  general  Holy  City, 
we  find  in  the  third  verse  of  the  same  chapter  the  fol- 
lowing words:  "  I  will  give  power  unto  my  two  wit- 
nesses, and  they  shall  prophesy  a  thousand,  two  hun- 
dred and  three  score  days,  clothed  in  sackcloth."  So 
from  these  statements  we  find  that  two  especial  wit- 
nesses in  that  Holy  City,  clothed  in  sackcloth,  will  tes- 
tify.    Who  are  these  two  witnesses  ?    My  interpreta- 


358  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

tion  is  that  they  are  the  two  chosen  peoples  of  God  and 
Christ.  And  the  two  chosen  peoples  are  the  Jews 
and  the  Armenians.  The  Jews  were  the  chosen  peo- 
ple  before  Christ,  and  the  Armenians  became  the 
chosen  people  after  Christ,  as  King  Abgarus,  the  Ar- 
menian king,  believed  in  Christ  before  Christ  was 
crucified,  and  afterwards,  in  the  time  of  Gregory  the 
Illuminator,  the  whole  Armenian  nation  became  a 
Christian  nation,  in  310  A.  D.  Before  Palestine  was 
considered  a  holy  country,  Armenia  was  considered  a 
holy  land,  because  the  first  man  was  created  there,  and 
Noah's  ark  rested  on  Mount  Ararat.  And  as  the  Ar- 
inenians  became  the  first  Christian  nation  on  the  globe, 
Palestine  and  Armenia  were  the  holy  countries  or  the 
Holy  City.  Although  this  is  so,  after  all  the  literal 
Holy  City,  Jerusalem,  remains  a  holy  city;  and  she  will 
be  after  Christ,  under  the  rule  of  Gentiles  one  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  sixty  years,  while  the  two  wit- 
nesses will  testify  there  under  sackcloth  for  one  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  sixty  years. 

Now  the  question  is  this.  How  long  is  it  since  the 
city  of  elerusalem  was  captured  by  the  Gentiles,  or 
more  correctly  by  the  "  beast  that  ascelideth  out  of 
the  bottomless  pit  "  (Rev.  ii.  7),  which  is  the  Moham- 
medan power  ?  The  Mohammedan  power  in  dif- 
ferent places  in  Pevelation  is  called  the  Beast,  the 
Dragon,  the  Whore  or  Harlot,  and  the  False  Prophet, 
and  it  is  the  Gentile  kingdom  after  Christ.  And  the 
time  which  is  given  to  the  Mohammedan  power  to 
rule,  to  destroy,  and  to  kill  the  Jews  and  the  Chris- 


THE  BATTLE  OF  ARMAGEDDON.      359 

tiaus  iu  Jcriisaleiii  or  in  the  Bible  lands,  is  only  one 
thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty  years.  Since  the 
city  of  Jerusalem  was  captured  by  the  Mohammedans 
is  1258  years,  and  when  this  present  year  and  the  next 
come  to  an  end  in  1807,  the  Mohammedan  power  will 
also  come  to  an  end,  and  the  city  of  Jerusalem  willj)e  , , 
restored  to  the  Jews,  and  Armenia  to  the  Armenians.  0 ' 

Towards  the  end  of  the  Mohammedan  power,  Mo- 
hammedans will  begin  to  kill  both  the  Jews  and  the 
Armenians  for  three  and  a  half  years  (see  Rev.  xi,  7, 
8,  9).  Now,  for  a  year  and  a  half  the  Mohammedans 
have  been  killing  the  Christians,  —  wdiich  the  author 
predicted  two  or  three  years  ago;  and  they  will  kill 
two  years  more.  "  And  the  sixth  Angel  poured  out 
his  vial  upon  the  Great  River  Euphrates  and  the  water 
thereof  was  dried  up.''  (See  Rev.  xvi,  12.)  That 
means  that  the  people  on  the  shores  of  the  Euphrates 
were  killed,  namely  the  Armenians. 

I  am  not  writing  a  commentary  on  Revelation, 
but  simply  bringing  in  a  few  passages  to  enlighten  the 
mind  of  the  reader  about  the  future  of  Armenia  and 
the  battle  of  Armageddon. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  ARMAGEDDON. 

(See  Rev.  xvi,  13-16.) 
The  battle  of  Armageddon  is  the  final  and  the 
greatest  battle.  All  the  nations  will  take  part  in  it; 
hut  the  leaders  in  the  battle  will  be  the  ones  I  have 
said,  and  the  other  wnll  be  their  followers  on  the  one 
side  or  the  other.  And  this  battle  will  settle  all  the 
questions  which  are  not  settled  now.     The  great  East- 


360  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE.  / 

em  question  will  be  settled,  the  great  question  between 
capital  and  labor  will  be  settled,  all  the  emperors  and 
czars,  kings,  and  princes  will  come  down  from  their 
thrones,  and  permanent  international  arbitration  will 
be  established.  The  questions  which  are  asked  now 
will  never  be  asked:  AVhat  do  the  emperors  say  ? 
"What  do  the  czars  say  ?  What  do  the  Sultans  say  ? 
Men  will  ask  then,  What  do  the  people  say  ?  What  is 
the  wish  of  the  people  ? 

Then  the  question  comes,  where  is  Armageddon  ? 
Armageddon  is  xVrmenia.  Of  course  this  is  entirely 
a  new  interpretation  to  European  and  American  schol- 
ars; no  one  has  ever  been  certain  where  Armageddon 
is,  but  it  is  generally  thought  to  be  somewhere  near 
J  erusalem ,  a  little  hill  called  Mount  Megiddo.  In  the 
time  of  Judges,  "  The  kings  came  and  fought,  then 
fought  the  kings  of  Canaan  in  Taanach  by  the  waters 
of  Megiddo."  (Judges  v,  19.)  But  as  a  native  of  the 
Bible  lands,  and  as  a  native  minister,  I  am  positive 
about  it.  The  first  question  is,  What  does  Armaged- 
don mean  ?  It  means  the  High  Lands.  Is  there  any 
higher  land  in  the  Bible  lands  than  Armenia  ?  The 
main  land  is  from  4,000  to  7,000  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea,  and  Mount  Ararat  is  about  18,000  feet 
high.  Another  question  is.  What  does  Armenia 
mean  ?  It  means  precisely  the  high  lands,  as  Ar- 
mageddon does.  Armenia  took  her  name  from  King 
Aram  or  Armenag;  both  mean  high  lands,  or  the 
possessors  of  high  lands;  and  Armenia  also  means  the 
high  lands. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  ARMAGEDDON.      361 

Again,  what  does  Ararat  mean,  which  is  just  in 
the  center  of  Armenia  proper  ?  It  means  the  holy  or 
high  land.  JS'ow  bring  all  together,  Armageddon, 
Armenia,  Ararat,  all  mean  just  the  same:  high  lands. 
Not  only  high  lands,  but  holy  high  lands.  Long  be- 
fore Palestine  was  called  a  holy  land,  Armenia  had 
the  name  of  Holy  land,  and  the  Armenians  were  called 
the  Highlanders. 

In  a  word,  Armageddon  is  the  combination  of 
three  different  words,  Armenia  -  Garden  -  Eden:  Arm- 
ageddon. 

So  the  final  battle  will  be  fought  in  Armenia.  The 
nation  with  the  greatest  part  will  have  the  greatest 
future.  As  man  fell  from  grace  in  Armenia,  man 
will  be  restored  to  peace  and  holiness  in  Armenia. 
And  before  that  peace,  holiness,  and  restoration  come, 
the  greatest  battle  will  be  fought  in  Armenia.  After 
the  fall  of  man,  disgrace  and  curse  went  forth  from 
Armenia;  so  prosperity  and  blessings  will  come  forth 
from  Armenia.  As  the  first  battle  in  the  world  was 
fought  in  Armenia,  between  Cain  and  Abel,  and  the 
other  battles  followed,  so  the  last  battle  will  be  fought 
in  Armenia,  and  the  universal  peace  will  come  out  of 
it.  As  the  first  martyrdom  in  the  world  was  in  Arme- 
nia, so  the  last  and  greatest  martyrdom  will  be  in  Ar- 
menia. And  from  the  blood  of  Armenian  martyrs 
everlasting  happiness  will  follow  to  all  nations.  And 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  will  be  established  throughout 
the  world. 


POEMS  OX  THE  AEMEXIAK  QUESTION. 

[From  the  New  York  Independent,  bv  (special  permission.] 
LORD  SALISBURY. 
By  the  Rev.  T.  S.  Perry. 
*'0h!  for  a  year,  a  month,  a  day  of  Oliver  Cromwell." — Tlte 
Independent. 

*•  What  Lord  Salisbuiy  seems  to  lack  is  a  little   Cromwellian 
courage."  —  A  Speaker  in  City  Temple,  London. 

1. 

Oh!  for  an  hour  of  Cromwell, 

For  a  leader  brave  and  grand 
To  guide  the  wrath,  and  point  the  path, 

Of  a  mighty  Christian  land  ! 
To  heed  the  cry  of  innocent  blood, 

To  blush  for  the  world's  disgrace, 
With  hand  to  deal  a  blow  of  steel 

In  the  murderous  Moslem's  face  ! 


Alas  !    for  a  leader  heedless 

While  massacred  villages  flame, 
Unmoved  by  shrieks  of  maidenhood 

At  wrong  too  foul  for  name  ! 
Strong  to  throttle  the  feeble, 

Feeble  to  beard  the  strong, 
With  eye  o'er-meek,  and  blanching  cheek, 

How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long  ? 

(362) 


POEMS  ON  THE  ARMENIAN  QUESTION.        363 


And  women  cover  their  faces, 

And  men  are  fain  to  liiss. 
Cromweil's   Iiead   upon   Tenipie   Bar 

Were  a  leader  better  tlian  tliis  ! 
And  lieaven  grows  blaeli  witli  liorror, 

And  eartli  grows  red  witli  wrong, 
And  martyrs  cry  from  eartli  and  sky, 

How  long,  O  Lord,  bow  long  ? 
Orange  Park,  Florida. 

DEUS  VULT. 

By  Allen  Eastman  Cross. 

'*  It  is  time  that  one  general  shout  of  execration  — n^t  of  men, 
but  of  deeds — one  general  shmit  of  execration,  directed  against  deeds 
of  icickedness,  should  rise  from  outraged  humanity." — Oladston^'s 
Armenian  address  at  Chester. 

No  tomb  of  death  shall  be  our  guest 
Wherein  the  Lord  of  Life  may  rest. 

No  empty  sepulcher  of  stone 

Across  the  world  makes  bitter  moan. 

But  Christian  hearts  that  break  and  bleed 
For  our  avenging  pity  plead. 

O  brothers,  for  our  brothers'  sake 
Let  the  crusading  spirit  wake  ! 

O  Christian  England,  'tis  the  Christ 
By   Moslem   hands  is   sacrificed  ! 

Away,  away  with  hollow  words. 

Now  sheath  our  speech,  unsheath  our  sword  ! 

God  wills:    The  guns  of  Christendom 
Proclaim  the  tyi-ant's  doom  has  come  ! 
Manchester,  N.  H. 


364  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

TWO  SONNETS. 
By  Henry  Van  Dyke. 


Tlie  Turk's  Way. 

"  S'  and  back,  ye  messengers  of  mercy  !    Stand 

Far  ofif,  for  I  will  save  my  troubled  folk 

In  my  own  way."    So  the  false  Sultan  spoke; 
And  Europe,  barkening  to  his  base  command. 
Stood  still  to  see  him  heal  his  wounded  land. 

Through  blinding  snows  of  winter  and  through 
smoke 

Of  burning  towns  she  saw  him  deal  the  stroke 
Of  cruel  mercy  that  his  hate  had  planned. 

Unto  the  prisoners  and  the  sick  he  gave 
New  tortures,  horrible,  without  a  name; 

Unto  the  thirsty,  blood  to  drink;  a  sword 
Unto  the  hungry;  with  a  robe  of  shame 

He  clad   the   naked,   making   life   abhorred. 
He  saved  by  slaughter,  but  denied  a  grave. 

II. 
America's  Way. 

But  thou,  my  countiy,  tho'  no  fault  be  thine 

For  that  red  horror  far  across  the  sea; 

Tho'  not  a  tortured  wretch  can  point  to  thee, 
And  curse  thee  for  the  selfishness  supine 
Of  those  great  powers  who  cowardly  combine 

To  shield  the  Turk  in  his  iniquity; 

Yet,  since  thy  hand  is  innocent  and  free, 
Rise,  thou,  and  show  the  world  the  way  divine. 
Thou  canst  not  break  the  oppressor's  iron  rod, 

But  thou  canst  minister  to  the  oppressed; 
Thou  canst  not  loose  the  captive's  heavy  chain. 
But  thou  canst  bind  his  wounds  and  soothe  his  pain. 

Armenia  calls  thee,  Empire  of  the  West, 
To  play  the  Good  Samaritan  for  God. 
Nfew  York  City. 


POE.MS  ON  tup:  AUME^'IAN  QUESTION.        365 

TO  THOSE  WHO  DIED  FOR  THEIR  FAITH. 

At-menia,  1894  to  lS9—f 
By  Mrs.  Merrill  E.  Gates. 
"  These  loved  their  lives  not,  to  the  death  ! " 
But  we  at  ease  to-day,  who  claim 
Allegiance  to  the  One  great  Name, 
Could  we  as  nobly  die  for  Faith  ? 

We  challenge  not  the  crucial  test ! 
Self  cannot  prove  to  self  its  power 
If  e'er  should  come  that  testing  hour 

God  give  us  grace  to  choose  the  Best ! 

But  these  have  overcome  !      Their  Lord 
In  bitter  death  have  not  denied  ! 
Have  chosen  still  the  Crucified 

In  face  of  bayonet  and  sword  ! 

Our  age  heroic  looms  !    Our  eyes 
Behold    white    martyr   brows  !    Still    hears 
Our  sin-gray  world  with  unthrilled  ears 

Once  more  the  martyr-chorus  rise  ! 

Come  Thou  to  succor  the  great  need  ! 

Thy  judgment  shall  not  long  delay  ! 

God  doeth  his  strange  work  to-day  ! 
The  Judge  is  at  the  door  !    Take  heed  ! 
Amherst,  Mass. 

ARMENIA. 

By  Willimena  L.  Armstrong. 

Out  of  storms  and  peace  light,  out  of  confusing  tilings. 
Bound  in  mysterious  fashion  by  the  bindings  of  blood 
and   hate, 

Lo,  are  the  Nations  assembled  now 

At  the  Twentieth  Century  Gate. 
Leaning  beside  the  portal:  Close  !  in  the  name  of  God  ! 
Over  the  Garden  of  Eden,  in  the  evening  of  this  our  Day. 

Over  the  breast  of  the  Mountain  old 

Where  the  Ark  of  deliverance  lay. 


366  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Leaning  beside  tlie  portal:  Hark  to  the  clashing  arms  I 

Hark  to  the  voice  in  the  Garden,  to  the  Nations  of  Earth 

it  calls, 

"Bid!  for  the  Woman  is  Christian  blood; 

And  the  sword  and  the  bayonet  falls  !  " 

Sold  !  A  Christian  Woman  !    Sold  in  the  name  of  Christ! 

Sold  to  her  death  in  the  Eden  with  its  soil  by  her  blood 

made  damp  ! 

Sold  in  the  eve  of  our  Mighty  Age  ! 

With  the  light  of  our  Age  for  a  lamp  ! 
New  York  City. 

ARMENIA'S  BITTER  CRY. 

By  Hetta  Lord  Hayes  Ward. 
I. 
World,   world,   hear  our  prayer 
Oh   where   is   Russia,    where  ? 

A  fearful  deed  is  done, 

Its  glare  affronts  the  sun. 
Smoke  !     Flame  !     Fire  ! 
Rouse  thee,  great  Russian  Sire  ! 

When   Christian   homes   are   ablaze, 

Hast  thou  no  voice  to  raise  ? 
Thy  neighbor  to  thee  has  cried. 
Pass  not  on  the  other  side. 

Look  on  our  dire  despair  ! 

Where  art  thou,  Czar,  oh,  where  ? 

II. 

Land  of  the  sun  and  sea. 

Wake,   Rome  and  Italy  ! 
Our  ancient  Church  in  vain 
Calls  thee  to  break  her  chain. 

Shame  !     Shame  !     Shame  ! 

Where   sleeps  thy   early   fame  ? 
To  death  our  priests  are  led, 
Their  flocks  lie  slaughtered,   dead. 

Awake,  good  Pope  of  Rome  ! 

Our  saints  through  blood  go  home; 
Hear  thou  their  dying  plea, 
Where,  where  is  Italy  ? 


Newark,  N.  J. 


POEMS  ON  THE  ARMENIAN  QUESTION.        367 

III. 
Land  of  Frateniite, 
Brave  France,  turn  not  away  ! 

Shall  blood  thy  lilies  stain  ? 

Wilt  bear  the  curse  of  Cain  ? 
Wake  !     Wake  !     Wake  ! 
For  God  and  glory's  sake  ! 

On  a  ghastly   funeral   pyre. 

Brave  men  are  burned  with  fire; 
God  calls  to  France,  the  free, 
"  Thy  brother,   where   is   he  V " 

Lest  God  in  wrath  requite, 

Awake,  befriend  the  right ! 

IV. 

Where  is  good  Frederick's  son 
When  evil  deeds  are  done  ? 

Shall  prisons  reek  and  rot, 

His    mother's    blood    speak   not  ? 
Haste  !     Haste  !     Haste  ! 
Time  runs  too  long  to  waste. 

If  halts  the  Kaiser  dumb, 

Let   all  the   people  come. 
Your  oath  must  sacred  stand, 
Treaties  of  Fatherland; 

Victims  of  Turk  and  Kurd, 

Rest  on  your  plighted  word. 

V, 

Your  sisters'  shame  and  blood 
Cry  out  to  England's  God. 

Slain  on  the  church's  floor, 

Their  blood  flowed  out  the  door. 
Speak  !    Speak  !    Speak  ! 
The  strong  must   help  the   weak. 

Leave   Turkish   bonds   unsold; 

Betray  not  Christ  for  gold. 
Let  the  Moslem  dragon  feel 
Once  more  Saint  George's  heel. 

England,   awake,   awake  ! 

W^orld,   hear,   for  Jesus'   sake  ! 


368  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

ARMENIA. 

By  Geo.  W.  Crofts. 

Tune  :  "  Maryland,  My  Maryland." 

Where'er  thy  martyr  blood  has  run 

Armenia  ! 
Shed   by  the  fierce   Mohammedan, 

Armenia  ! 
There   nations   gather  in   their  grief  — 
There  would  they  bring  in  swift  relief  — 
Oh,  may  thy  agony  be  brief, 

Armenia  ! 

God's  eye  of  pity  glances  down, 

Armenia  ! 
He  sees  thy  rudely  broken  crown, 

Armenia  ! 
His  heart  is  touched  with  all  thy  woes, 
His  mighty  arm  will  interpose. 
He'll  save  thee  from  thy  cruel  foes, 

Armenia  ! 

All  o'er  thy  verdant  plains  shall  spread, 

Armenia  ! 
The  golden  grain  where  thou  hast  bled, 

Armenia  ! 
Thy  harvest   song   shall   yet  arise 
To  him  who  rules  in  yonder  skies. 
Whose  ear  has  heard  thy  bitter  cries, 

Armenia  ! 

America  extends  to  thee, 

Armenia  ! 
The  cordial  of  her  sympathy, 

Armenia  ! 
And  every  soul  in  this  free  land 
Would  give  to  thee  the  helping  hand. 
And  near  thee  in  thy  sorrow  stand, 

Armenia  I 


POEMS  ON  THE  ARMENIAN  QUESTION.        860 

In  this  dark  hour  be  brave  and  ■troug, 

Anneuia  ! 
The  riijht  shall  triumph  over  wrong, 

Armeuia  I 
'Twill  not  be  long  till  thou  shalt  see 
The  glorious  dawn  of  liberty, 
When  thou  shalt  be  forever  free, 

Armenia  ! 


ARMENIAN  HYMN. 

By  Alice  Stone  Blackwell. 

[From  the  Armenian  of  Nerses  the  Graceful  ;  born  1102,  died  117S.] 

O  Dayspring,  Sun  of  righteousness,  shine  forth  with  light 

for  me  ! 
Treasure  of  mercy,  let  my  soul  thy  hidden  riches  see  ! 
Thou  before  whom  the  thoughts  of  men  lie  open  in  thy 

sight, 
Unto  my  soul,   now  dark  and  dim,  grant  thoughts  that 

shine  with  light  ! 
O  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  Almighty  One  in  Three, 
Care-taker  of  all  creatures,  have  pity  upon  me  ! 
Awake,   O   Lord,   awake   to  help,   with  grace  and  power 

divine; 
Awaken  those  who  slumber  now,  like  Heaven's  host  to 

shine  ! 
O  Lord  and  Saviour,  life-giver,  unto  the  dead  give  life, 
And  raise  up  those  that  have  grown  weak  and  stumbled 

in  the  strife  ! 
O    Skillful    Pilot  :    Lamp    of   light,    that   burneth    bright 

and  clear  ! 
Strength  and  assurance  grant  to  me,   now  hid   away   in 

fear. 

O  Thou  that  makest  old  things  new,  renew  me  and  adorn; 
Rejoice  we  with  salvation.  Lord,  for  which  I  Inly  mourn. 
Giver  of  good,  unto  my  sins  be  thy  forgiveness  given  ! 
Lead  Thy   disciples,   Heavenly   King,   unto  the   flocks   of 
Heaven. 
24 


370  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

Defeat  the  evil  husbandman  that  soweth  tares  and  weeds; 

Wither  and  kill  in  me  the  fruits  of  all  his  evil  seeds  ! 

O  Lord,  gi-ant  water  to  my  eyes,  that  they  may  shed 
warm   tears 

To  cleanse  and  wash  away  the  sin  that  in  my  soul  ap- 
pears ! 

On  me,  now  hid  in  shadow  deep,  shine  forth,  O  glory 
bright  ! 

Sweet  juice,  quench  thou  my  soul's  keen  thirst  !  Show 
me  the  path  of  light  ! 

Jesus,  whose  name  is  love,  with  love  crush  thou  my 
stony  heart; 

Bedew  my  spirit  with  thy  blood,  and  bid  my  griefs  depart ! 

O  thou  that  even  in  fancy  art  so  sweet,  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 

Grant  that  with  Thy  reality  my  soul  may  be  sutficed  ! 

When  thou  shalt  come  again  to  earth,  and  all  thy  glory 
see. 

Upon  that  dread  and  awful  day,  O  Christ,  remember  me! 

Thou  that  redeemest  men  from  sin,  O  Saviour,  I  implore, 

Redeem  him  who  now  praiseth  Thee,  to  praise  Thee  ever- 
more. 

Dorchester,  Mass. 


Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell  is  a  noble  Boston 
woman  who  is  greatly  interested  in  the  Armenians. 
She  has  written  many  articles  and  poems,  and  done 
much  toward  arousing  public  sentiment  throughout 
the  United  States  in  behalf  of  the  Armenians. 

The  author  of  this  book  esteems  it  a  privilege  to 
oifer  his  personal  thanks,  as  well  as  those  of  his  per- 
secuted nation,  to  Miss  Blackwell,  by  whose  kind  per- 
mission the  following  poems  from  her  book,  "  Ar- 
menian Poems,"  are  here  reprinted. 


POEMS  ON  THE  AHMENIAM  QUESTION.        371 
THE  LAiVIENT  OF  MOTHER  ARMENIA. 


In  alien   lands  they   roam,    my   children   dear; 
Where  shall  I  make  apiK^al,  with  none  to  hear  ? 
Where  shall  I  find  them  ?    Far  away  from  me 
My  son.s  serve  others,  thralls  in  slavery. 

Chorus. 
Oh,   come,   my   children,   back   to   me ! 
Come  home,  your  motherland  to  see  ! 

II. 
Ajrds  have  passed,  no  news  of  them  I   hear; 
Dead,  dead  are  they,  my  sons  tJiat  knew  not  fear. 
I  weep,  the  blood  is  frozen  in  my  veins: 
No  one  will  cure  my  sorrows  and  my  pains. 

Chorus. 

III. 
My  blood  is  failing  and  my  heart  outworn, 
My  face  forever  mournful  and  forlorn; 
To  my  dark  grave  with  grief  1  shall  descend. 
Longing  to  see  my  children  to  the  end. 

Chorus. 

O  wandering  shepherd,  you  whose  mournful  song 
Rings  through  the  valleys  as  you  pass  along  ! 
Come,  let  us  both,  with  many  a  bitter  tear. 
Weep  for  the  sad  death  of  our  children  dear  ! 

Chorus. 


Crane  of  the   fatherland,  fly  far  away. 
Fly  out  of  sight,  beyond  the  setting  day: 
My  last  sad  greetings  to  my  children  bear. 
For  my  life's  hope  has  died   into  despair  ! 

Chorus. 


372  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

LIBERTY. 

^tichael  Ghazarian  Nalbandian  was  born  in  Russian  Armenia  in  1830;  graduated 
at  the  University  of  St.  Petersburg  with  the  title  of  Professor  ;  was  active  as  a 
teacher,  author,  and  journalist ;  fell  under  suspicion  for  his  political  opinions, 
and  underwent  a  rigorous  imprisonment  of  three  years,  after  which  he  was  exiled 
to  the  province  of  Sarakov,  and  died  there,  in  18(3(3,  of  lung  disease  contracted 
ill  prison.  It  is  forbidden  in  Russia  to  possess  a  picture  of  Nalbandian  ;  but 
portraits  of  him,  with  his  poem  on  "Liberty"  printed  around  the  margin,  are 
circulated  secretly. 

I. 

When   God,   who  is   forever  free. 

Breathed  life  into  my  earthlj'  frame,  — 
From  that  first  day,  by  his  free  will 

When   I  a   living  soul  became,  — 
A  babe  upon  my  mother's  breast, 

Ere  power  of  speech  was  given  to  me, 
Even  then  I  stretched  my  feeble  arms 

Forth  to  embrace  thee,  Liberty! 

II. 
Wrapped  round  with  many  swaddling  bands, 

All  night  I  did  not  cease  to  weep. 
And  in  the  cradle,  restless  still, 

My  cries  disturbed   my  mother's   sleep. 
"  O  mother  !  "  in  my  heart  I  prayed, 

"  Unbind  my  arms  and   leave  me  free  !  " 
And  even  from  that  hour  I  vowed 

To  love  thee  ever,  Liberty  ! 

III. 

When  first  my  faltering  tongue  was  freed. 

And  when  my  parents'  liearts  were  stirred 
With  thrilling  joy  to  hear  their  son 

Pronounce    his    first    clear-spoken    word, 
"  Papa,    mammn,"   as   children   use, 

Wei-e  not  the  names  first  said  by  me; 
The  first  word  on  my  childish  lips 

Was  thy  great  name,   O  Liberty  ! 


I'OKMS  oN  THE  ARMENIAN  QUESTION.        373 

IV. 

Liberty  answered  from  on  hi^xli 

The   sovereijjn    voice   of    Destiny: 
"  Wilt    tliou   enroll   thyself   hencelorth 

A  soldier  true  of  Liberty  V 
The  path  is  thorny  all  the  way, 

And  many  trials  wait  for  thee; 
Too  strait  and  narrow  is  this  world 

For   him    wlio   loveth    Lil)erty. " 

V. 

"  Freedom  !  "    I    answered.    "  on    my    head 

Let   fire  descend  and   thnnder  burst; 
Let  foes  ajjainst  my  life  conspire. 

Let  all  who  hate  thee  do  their  worst: 
1  will  be  true  to  thee  till  death: 

Yea,   even   upon   the  gallows  tree 
The  last  breath  of  a  death  of  shame 

Shall  shout   thy   name.   ()   Liberty!" 


THE  WANDERING  ARMENIAN  TO  THE  SWALLOW. 
By  C.  a.  ToTOCiriAN. 

O  swallow,  f?entle  swallow, 
Thou  lovely  bird  of  sprinjj  ! 

Say,  whither  art  thou  flyinj; 
So  swift  on  jjleaminj?  wing  ? 

IT. 

Fly  to  my  birthplace.  Ashdarag, 
The  spot   I  love  the  best; 
'  Beneath    my    father's   roof-tree, 
O  swallow,  build  thy  nest. 

III. 
There  dwells  afar  my  father, 

A  mournful  man  and  gray. 
Who  for  his  only  son's  return 

Waits  vainly,  day  by  day. 


374  ARMENIA  AND  HER  PEOPLE. 

IV. 

If  thou  shouldst  chance  to  see  him, 
Greet  him  with  love  from  me; 

Bid  him  sit  clown  and  mourn  with  tears 
His  son's  sad  destiny. 

V. 

In  poverty  and   loneliness, 
Tell  him,  my  days  are  j^assed: 

My  life  is  only  half  a  life, 
My  tears  are  falling  fast. 

VT. 

To  me,  amid  bri^erht  daylight, 
The  sun  is  dark  at  noon; 

To  my  wet  eyes  at  midnight 
Sleep  comes  not,  late  or  soon. 

VII. 

Tell  him  that,  like  a  l)eauteous  flower 

Smit  by  a  cruel   doom. 
Uprooted   from    my    native   soil, 

I  wither  ere  mj*  bloom. 

VIII. 

Fly  on  swift  wing,  dear  swallow, 
Across  the  quickening  earth. 

And  seek  in  fair  Armenia 
The  village  of  my  birth. 


NOTICE. 

The  author  of  this  book  delivers  lectures   on  the  following 
subjects  : 

Akmekia,  Armenians,  and  tuk  recent  Atrocities. 
The  Sultan  of  Turkey,  Hamid  the  II. 
American  Missions  in  Turkey. 
Social  and  Political  Like  in  Turkey. 
About  400  stereopticon  views,  as  well  as  large  maps,  and 
costumes  are  used  to  illustrate  the  various  lectures,  which  are 
highly  instructive  and  entertaining,  and  never  fail  of  interesting 
the  most  critical  audiences. 

The  lectures  are  delivered  upon  very  reasonable  terms.     For 
particulars  address,  Rev.  GEO.  H.  FILIAN, 

Cor.  Eastern  Parkway  and  Gresent  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


From  the  testimonials  of  prominent  clergymen,  authors,  and 
secretaries  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.'s,  the  following  few  are  selected. 

From  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs,  President  of  the  American  Board 
of  Foreign  Hissions. 

Your  address  to  my  congregation  wan  admirable  in  it»  tone,  and  its  entire 
impression  upon  those  who  heard  it.  Your  knowledge  of  the  facts  presented  is, 
of  course,  accurate  and  complete  ;  and  your  method  of  presenting  the  facts  is 
clear,  impressive,  and  leaves  the  minds  instructed  and  the  hearts  quickened. 

From  the  Faculty  of  Chicago  Theological  Seminary. 

This  will  introduce  to  you  Rev.  George  H.  Filian,  a  graduate  of  this  Semi- 
nary, a  man  of  true  character  and  devotion.  He  has  been  obliged  to  suspend 
work  for  a  time  in  Turkey,  owing  to  his  faithfulness  in  preaching  the  truth,  and 
18  recommended  to  the  consideration  of  Christians  throughout  America. 

By  order  of  the  Faculty,  H.  N.  Scott,  Secretary. 

From  Prof.  G.  B.  Wilcox,  D.D.,  Chicago  Theological 
Seminary. 

Rev.  Q.  H.  Filian,  a  graduate  of  this  Seminary  in  1882,  and  since  pastor  of 
Armenian  Evangelical  Church,  Marsovan,  Turkey,  is  lecturing  on  Turkish 
missions  and  Turkish  manners  and  customs.  He  is  an  erceptumally  able  speaker, 
and  may  with  all  confidence  be  introduced  by  any  pastor  to  his  congregation. 
I  speak  from  long  and  intimate  acquaintance.  G.  B.  Wuxrox. 

(375) 


From  Rev.  John  H.  Barrows,  D.D.,  Pastor  First 
Presbyterian  Church. 

Rev.  Geo.  H.  Filiau,  of  Syria,  lectlued  on  Constantinople  to  my  people  last 
night,  greatly  interesting  them.  His  illustrations  are  excellent,  and  he  speaks 
with  great  enthusiasm.  The  evening's  entertainment  was  very  wholesome,  and 
I  cordially  commend  his  worthy  lecture.  My  people  have  heard  him  also  with 
pleasure  on  "Social  Life  in  Turkey." 

From  the  Department  Secretary  Y.  fl.  C-  A.  of  Chicago, 
Illinois. 

Rev.  Geo.  H.  Filian  delivered  before  one  of  la^ir  meetings  his  interesting  lecture 
on  "  Missions  in  Turkey."  I  have  never  heard  a  speaker  more  .interesting,  and 
that  held  the  attention  of  the  audience  in  a  greater  measure  than  Mr.  Filian.  He 
is  intelligent  upon  such  a  subject.  He  is  versatile  in  .expression,  enthusiastic  in 
delivery,  and  certainly  very  devout  in  heart.  *  Daniel  Sloan. 

From  the  Secretary  in  charge  Central  Building,  Y.  fl.  C.  A., 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Rev.  Geo.  H.  Filian  gave  his  stereopticon  lecture  on  "  Constantinople "  be- 
fore our  young  men  last  night,  and  I  am  pleased  to  say  that  it  is  a  lecture  of  rare 
interest  and  enjoyment  The  views  are  beautiful  and  very  instructive,  as  they 
are  rarely  thrown  upon  a  screen.  Mr.  Filian  has  the  advantage  of  speaking 
from  actual  experience,  and  his  eloquent  words,  devoted  spirit,  and  fund  of 
humor  quickly  win  the  .attention  and  sympathy  of  any  audience. 

Arthur  B.  Wood. 

From  Rev.  Henry  Van  Dylce,  D.D.,  Pastor  of  the  Bricic 
Church,  New  Yorlc. 

Your  lecture  before  our  Young  Men's  Society  on  Monday  was  a  decided  suc- 
cess. Every  one  was  interested  in  what  you  had  to  say,  and  the  pictures  were 
excellent.    We  shall  be  glad  when  the  time  comes  to  have  you  with  us  again. 

From  Rev.  George  fl.  Stone,  D.D.,  Hartford. 

Mr.  Filian  is  thoroughly  intelligent  on  the  whole  Eastern  question,  and  gives 
a  view  of  Armenia  and  its  present  trial  which  is  exceedingly  valuable. 

From  A.   C.  Dixon,   D.D.,   Pastor   Hanson    Place  Baptist 
Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Rev.  George  H.  Filian  has  lectured  twice  in  the  Hanson  Place  Baptist  church, 
and  it  gives  me  pleasure  to 'say  that  his  lectures  are  interesting  and  instructive. 
They  stir  the  heart  to  work  and  pray  for  the. relief  of  persecuted  Armenia. 

From  Louis  Albert  Banks,  D.D.,  Pastor  of  Hanson  Place 
n.  E.  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

I  take  great  pleasure  in  saying  that  the  Rev.  Geo.  H.  Filian.  who  has  spoken 
from  the  platform  at  Hanson  Place  M.  E.  church  in  behalf  of  the  Armenian 
Christians,  and  also  lectured  in  our  church  on  Constantinople,  is  a  very  eloquent 
and  earnest  speaker,  who  will  attract  attention  and  arouse  interest  anywhere. 

(376) 


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